Most likely, it was a suicide terrorist, who conducted the explosion at the airport, Interfax reports. The bomb blew up in the luggage dispensing area of the airport at 16:32 Moscow time. The death toll from the explosion has climbed to 20, RIA Novosti reports.

Many flights have been delayed. Flights from China, Germany, Turkey, Vietnam and Armenia, which were expected to arrive at Domodedovo during the next hour, have been delayed indefinitely.

In the meantime, Moscow hospitals are ready to accept those who have been injured in the attack. Over 20 ER vehicles have departed to the airport.

The power of the bomb has not been determined yet. The Moscow police are checking metro stations and other crowded public places to prevent possible acts of terrorism.

Security at Moscow's two other airports - Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo has been strengthened. The airports are operating in terror threat regime.

UPDATE: According to Vesti.ru, the death toll from the explosion has climbed to 35.

Eyewitness: 'I saw limbless bodies and body fragments'

According to most recent information, 35 people have been killed in the explosion at Domodedovo International Airport. The remains of the suicide bomber have been found. The bomb, which the terrorist detonated, was larger and more powerful than usual (1.5-2 kilos for a female and 2.5-3 kilos for a male suicide bomber).
Two terrorists were involved in the suicide bomb attack at Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport that killed 35 and injured up to 180 on Monday, RIA Novosti reports with reference to law-enforcement officials.

Both died in the explosion that ripped through the international arrivals zone at 4:40 p.m. (13:40 GMT), as friends and taxi drivers were meeting arriving passengers.

Eyewitness Artyom Zhilinkov, was there to meet a friend of his arriving from Dusseldorf, could see the terrorist a second before the explosion.

"He blew himself up in front of my very eyes," the young man said. "It was a man, he was wearing a black coat and a black hat - that's all I can remember. He literally blew up into pieces," the man said.

"It was nightmare. The lights went out, the room was filled with black smoke. Many started rushing about, others tried to help the wounded. I used a cart to evacuate two people. There was another guy, but I did  not have the nerve to help him - he did not have his face. There was a lot of blood everywhere. I remember my clothes were splashed with some terrible fluid mass. I later realized that it was someone's brains," the man said.

The powerful bomb blew up at the moment when it was placed on the marble floor of the airport.
"This conclusion can be made judging upon the character of injuries that people suffered. Only a few victims have chest and arms injuries. Most of the injured have had their legs injured, which brings up an idea that the bomb had been placed in a suitcase, and the suitcase was standing on the floor when the explosion occurred," investigators said.

Artyom Zhilinkov arrived at the airport at about 4:00 p.m. Moscow time.
"I was going to pick up my friends, there were a lot of people in the arrivals zone, about 150 people. I saw a man wearing all black, I saw him from the back. I think it was his suitcase that blew up. There were two columns in the room, and I was standing behind them during the moment of the explosion, and it saved my life. The crowd of people in front of me also took the blast wave. The lights went out, and people started running in panic towards the exit. I started running too, I thought that another explosion would follow. I came to my senses the next moment and ran back. I saw bodies and body fragments on the floor. I saw a man without a leg as I was running back. I grabbed a luggage cart, put that legless man on it and ran towards the exit. Then I returned to pick another victim," Artyom said.

"The paramedics and the police arrived in some 15 minutes. We - those who was not injured, and who did not panic - started helping them evacuating the injured," he added.

A police officer was seen running out from the airport several minutes after the explosion. He was all covered with human meat and blood, screaming: "I'm alive! I'm alive!"

The bombing was the worst terror attack since two female suicide bombers from the volatile North Caucasus republic of Dagestan blew themselves up at two of the capital's subway stations last March, killing 40, RIA Novosti reports.

Police have hinted the latest outrage may be linked to the Islamist radicals in the North Caucasus. Three suspects are being sought over the bombing, the news agency said.

Do Russians Have a Death Wish?

Authorities were warned of the attack on Domodedovo Airport a week ago, but they didn't beef up security.
By Masha Gessen
Posted Monday, Jan. 24, 2011, at 4:17 PM ET

MOSCOW—Within hours of the deadly explosion at Moscow's busiest airport, it emerged that the airport's management had known of a planned terrorist attack at least a week ahead of time. They had even been informed of the location of the potential blast: the busy arrivals area. But no additional security measures were put in place: Just as before, anyone could enter the arrivals area off the street, without passing through a metal detector or any other sort of security screen. Not only that; it appears the airport's security staff was cut by half in the months just before the blast.

In Russia, this is pretty much the norm.

There is a peculiarly horrible sense of recognition that you get watching footage of the aftermath of terrorist attacks that occurred in a place that is intimately, physically familiar. You almost get the feeling that you have touched the carnage. Over the last few years, I have experienced this several times. In 2004, a suicide bombing killed 10 people at a bus stop along my usual commute: I would likely have been stuck in traffic somewhere nearby had I not taken the day off. Less than a year ago, 40 people died in two explosions in the Moscow subway; one of the bombs went off at a station my son regularly passes through on his way to school—that day he just happened to catch a ride with his younger sister. There were half a dozen explosions and hostage-takings in between, too—along other people's usual routes. Today, when the news of the airport bombing broke during my magazine's editorial meeting, everyone present fell silent, clearly visualizing a place through which all of us had traveled dozens or even hundreds of times.

I know of only one other place in the world where danger is so imminent. That would be Israel, the country where one cannot enter a shopping mall or a movie theater or board a train to the airport without passing through a metal detector and undergoing a security check. Moscow's approach is the exact opposite: There is no security at the entrance to shopping malls, movie theaters, or parking lots, and airport scanners are usually in what airport officials call "standby mode," which is to say, turned off.

How is this possible? Are Russians so unconcerned with personal and public safety? The answer is, well, yes. Russia is the world's only developed country where the average life expectancy has steadily fallen over the last half-century. Russia is the only country that is experiencing catastrophic depopulation while not being formally at war. Nicholas Eberstadt, a scholar with the American Enterprise Institute who has recently published a book on the subject, estimates that since 1992 Russia has lost nearly 2 million women and 5 million men to what demographers and public health specialists call "excess mortality." These are people who, given their age and social status, should not have died. Eberstadt is fond of pointing out that the life expectancy for a 15-year-old Russian boy today is less than that for a Somalian 15-year-old.

What do these people die of? Cardiovascular disease, AIDS, and, most strikingly, so-called external causes: violence, accidents, suicide, and poisoning (primarily alcohol). What all these causes of death have in common is self-inflicted risk. Cardiovascular disease is usually the result of an abhorrent diet, alcohol abuse, and smoking (a majority of adults of both sexes smoke cigarettes). HIV is transmitted unimpeded in a country that, polls show, has one of the world's highest AIDS awareness rates and lowest rates of condom use. Accidents and violence, almost invariably linked to alcohol abuse, are also obviously the result of systematic excessive risk-taking.

Perhaps the most tragic part of the story is that after a certain point, risk-taking begins to look entirely rational. If, at 15, you have a life expectancy of less than 50, why should you worry about the long-term consequences of cigarette smoke—or even about the short-term consequences of not wearing your seat belt? And, if you are an airport security manager, why would even the known threat of a terrorist attack motivate you to turn on an idle security scanner?

http://www.slate.com/id/2282283/

Взрывы в Домодедово. Техника и опасность

Сразу после взрывов в Домодедово 24 января я услышал, что это были теракты, а, проснувшись поутру 25 января, узнал, что причиной терактов президент России назвал «нарушения безопасности». Десятки смертей и ранений. Нужно найти и покарать. Однако даже в описанном выше меня две вещи коробят.
«О господи, снова теракт», – это из разговоров вокруг.

Потому что, когда все всё заранее знают, – значит, известно, что дальше будет. А дальше будет сначала хуже, а потом как всегда. Потому что если «теракт» – значит, во-первых, нужно натыкать рамки металлоискателей повсюду (об этом твердили во всех радиоэфирах вечером 24 января). А во-вторых, нужно уличить идейных пособников. И они, не сомневаюсь, вот-вот будут названы. Для записных патриотов-государственников ими станут «раскачивающие лодку» либералы-западники (не дают стране сплотиться вокруг титульной нации, ослабляют государство). А для записных либералов-западников ими станут силовики-государственники, которые под государственностью понимают набивание карманов, а на безопасность смердов (Путин ведь отменил выборы сенаторов и губернаторов под маркой борьбы с терроризмом – в итоге выборов нет, а терроризм есть).

У меня иная точка зрения?

Да, иная.

Потому что я хоть и либерал, но консервативный, то есть недоверчивый. Отчасти потому, что когда взрывы гремели в Лондоне, я работал в Лондоне на BBC, а руководство BBC запрещало использовать слова «теракты» и «террористы», и наша русская секция отчаянно спорила – разве не террористы взрывали в Лондоне метро? Разве не террор – взрыв вокзала в Мадриде? Не террор – взрывы московских жилых домов?

- Мы пока что не знаем, – объясняло руководство, – кто и с какими целями произвел эти взрывы. Мы пока что знаем лишь о взрывах и жертвах. Возможно, исламские фундаменталисты. А возможно, ирландские или баскские сепаратисты. А возможно, сотрудники спецслужб, получившие задачу путем взрывов поднять авторитет власти. И как будет выглядеть BBC, если вдруг выяснится последнее? Нас будут оценивать, как безответственных болтунов.

- И какими же словами прикажете пользоваться? – недоумевали мы.

- «Взрывы», «неизвестные, произведшие взрывы». Так же, как BBC использует «вооруженные люди» вместо «повстанцы» или «защитники режима», когда непонятно, кто прав, кто виноват и, кстати, кто победит.

С тех пор я, кажется, чуть не единственный в России журналист, кто избегает слова «теракт», когда слышит о взрыве в публичном месте, повлекшем массовые жертвы. То есть я веду себя, хочется верить, как следователь, который на вопрос: «Кто убил бизнесмена, сказочно разбогатевшего на господрядах?» – дает уклончивый ответ, что проверяются все версии. И пусть толпа убеждена, что бизнесмена изничтожил тот, кому он не заплатил откат, следователь должен допускать все, включая и то, что убийцей является любовник жены или алчный сосед. И это позиция в конечном итоге на руку толпе: только выясняя истину – и не выполняя заказ, – можно устранить причину несчастья.

Так что я, например, допускаю, что люди, взорвавшие Домодедово, были использованы (хотя бы и втемную) для того, чтобы отобрать бизнес у владельца Домодедово Дмитрия Каменщика. (А что? Версия не самая вероятная, однако и непротиворечивая). Я многое что допускаю, потому что для верного суждения мне не хватает фактов
Второе следствие из того, что я истины не знаю, – это то, что я советов по безопасности не даю. Да, мои коллеги по радиоэфирам кричали, что на входе в аэропорты – плюс вокзалы – нужно немедленно поставить рамки металлодетекторов. Но я, журналист-путешественник, знаю, что на входах в аэропорты таких рамок нет практически нигде в мире, потому что они создают очереди, срывают рейсы, разоряют авиакомпании и, в конечном итоге, способствуют достижению тех целей, которые террористы и ставят. И я не представляю, как технически возможно снабдить детекторами Курский вокзал, куда вход прямо из метро, причем сразу к дальним и пригородным поездам. И, если я правильно понимаю логику террористов (потому что версию терактов в уме тоже держу), им важно вызвать резонанс. А потому под прицелом Москва, а не Кострома, и людные места, а не пустыри. Москва же, доложу вам, вообще по устройству своему людное место.

А вот какова логика смертников, приводящая их к решению о собственной смерти, – у меня вообще соображений нет. Потому что при Путине было решено по-пацански – слова врагам не даем! Это как если бы мне было предложили ненавидеть фашизм, но запретили знать его постулаты. Чего добиваются эти люди? Ведет ли ими и правда Коран, а если да, то какие слова пророка? В чем сила их веры, если они готовы отдать за нее свою жизнь? Кто для них авторитет и почему? Почему они так устрашающе воспроизводятся и воспроизводятся (ведь спустя 12 лет после обещания «замочить в сортире» теракты происходят почти ежедневно, пусть и не в Москве, а в Ингушетии, Дагестане, Северной Осетии?)

У меня, повторяю, нет ответов на эти вопросы, и очередной идиот в Госдуме, который сегодня-завтра потребует ввести смертную казнь для смертников, – он мне если не враг, то и не друг, потому что мешает вести расследование.

Есть, правда, у меня соображение, что если государство видит своих врагов в Немцове, Лимонове и Шендеровиче и тратят силы на борьбу с ними – то, может быть, ему уже не хватает сил на отслеживание тех, кто взрывает аэропорты.

Но на этой версии тоже не настаиваю.
Сижу вон, читаю потихоньку «Джихад» Жиля Кепеля. Дико трудное чтение. Но никто ведь и не обещал, что будет легко.

Дмитрий Губин

Так кажется только с непривычки  [взломанный сайт] 

здесь важен не смысл, а стиль 

зачем так грубо?

First of all, let's stop calling each other names. Of course, Ramon is not a monkey of any kind. We value his contribution into this Forum very high. Let's hope he will answer our questions and won't spread propaganda any more.

I've read an interesting aricle, very unusual in its statements and conclusions to me. What do you think if the author is right or it's too cruel and unacceptable for Russia7

Russia must destroy terrorists brutally, like Israel did

The bloody terrorist act in Domodedovo makes Russia pay attention to foreign experience in the struggle against the plague of the 21st century. First and foremost, it goes about Israel - the country which successfully managed to cope with a number of bloody waves of terror. The Jewish State has forgotten about suicide bombing attacks in the streets. Avigdor Eskin, a well-known Israeli scientist of politics, shared his views with Pravda.Ru about Israel's success in the struggle against terrorism.
"The Jewish State exists for over 60 years, and for more than 60 years the Israelis live under the condition of never-ending terrorist threat. However, the number of news reports about terrorist attacks inside Israel have decreased considerably during the recent years.

"Indeed, Israel has managed to change the situation for the better, but it took years of exhausting bloody struggle. There was a period of time, when Israel would be attacked on a regular basis, when tens and hundreds of innocent people would die every week. Israel did not give up: the nation realized that it was the matter of "either we destroy them, or they destroy us." Now everything is quiet, there are only sporadic seldom attacks."

"How did you manage to achieve that?"
"One has to respond constantly and brutally to terrorism so that terrorists would come to realize that this is a hopeless way of struggle for them. One has to severely punish everyone who is at least slightly involved in terrorist activities. One must use tough economic sanctions against the regions that harbor terrorism. Not only did we use pin-point attacks against terrorists, but we ruined their houses, using the principle of collective responsibility. This has to be done despite any kind of international pressure. We did not succumb to that pressure even during Operation Cast Lead against Gaza."

"Both Russia and Israel were subjected are are being subjected to colossal pressure from the West as far their anti-terrorist struggle is concerned. One may open Western websites to see that the West refers to terrorists just as "rebels," "militants" and "fighters." Why is it so?

"I'll tell you more. Many Arab media, such as Al-Jazeera, said in their reports about the explosion at Domodedovo airport that it was a "so-called terrorist act." To put it in a nutshell, they do not think that the events, which happened at the airport, can be categorized as a crime. As for the West, they do sympathize with terrorists, and it is not incidental. What do we see? America and Europe verbally condemns terrorism, but they cover up those who is involved in it on their territories, they fund their books and organize various meetings for terrorists. And of course, they write that Russia and Israel violate human rights when they defend themselves!

Отредактировано Bella (2011-01-27 21:32:04)