Interfax: Russians still fear terror attacks in big cities – poll

MOSCOW. Nov 15 (Interfax) – Two-thirds of Russians (66%) say new terror attacks of the kind that happened in Volgograd in October are possible and 71% fear that their kin or themselves may fall victim to such crimes, Levada Center told Interfax.

Fifteen percent gave a negative answer to the question whether a new terror attack was possible, and 19% were hesitant to say. Levada Center polled 1,603 persons in 45 regions in late October.

Some 9% are sure that neither they nor their family members would ever be attacked by terrorists, but the number of brave people dipped from 14% recorded in September 2012. Eighteen percent said they preferred not to think about it.

The certainty of Russians that law enforcement bodies could protect them from terrorists reduced from 42% to 33% over the past year. Fifty-five percent said they did not count on the authorities (the indicator stood at 44% in September 2012).

A total of 90% of the respondents knew about the Volgograd bus bombing. In fact, it was the best remembered event of October: 52% of the respondents placed it on top of the events rating.

A suicide bomber blew herself up on a bus in Volgograd on October 21. Six people died and 55, including 20 minors, were injured. The bomb was equivalent of up to 600 grams of TNT.

Naida Asiyalova, 30, a native of Dagestan and the wife of militant Dmitry Sokolov, set off the bomb.

The police learned that Asiyalova came to Volgograd from Makhachkala by bus routed for Moscow. She disembarked near the Volgograd Academy of the Interior Ministry approximately an hour before the bombing.

The Russian Investigative Committee said Asiyalova must have planned to set off the bomb in the Akvarel shopping mall in the Sovetsky district of Volgograd but changed her mind when she saw that the mall was not crowded.

A criminal case was opened under Articles 205 (terrorist act), 105 (murder) and 222 (illegal weapons turnover) of the Russian Criminal Code.