Word: kremlins
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...Some pundits, pointing to Putin's wish to regain full control of the Kremlin as soon as possible, believe he may return to the presidency next year by asking Medvedev to take the fall for the financial crisis and resign. That would trigger a snap election, which Putin would be sure to win. His approval ratings are still around 65%, despite a year that saw an economic recession, spiking unemployment, a sharp currency devaluation, the murder of several human-rights activists and persistent terrorist attacks. (Read "The Man Behind Russia's Deadly Train Blast...
...Analysts say it is still unclear how the Kremlin will react if bombings continue to hit closer to home. In 2002 the government's response to a deadly theater siege in Moscow - masterminded by one of Umarov's predecessors, Shamil Basayev - was to institute a brutal security regime in Chechnya and place restrictions on the media. The alleged human-rights abuses and repressions carried out by the Moscow-backed government in Chechnya are usually justified by reference to the threat of terrorism...
...impoverished Russian regions of the North Caucasus, this would be nothing new. Centuries of Kremlin rule have failed to stamp out the Islamist resistance there, and suicide attacks and assassinations are not uncommon. Umarov, the self-appointed leader of the Caucasus emirate he proclaimed in 2007, is now waging a terrorist campaign to turn at least six regions into a new, independent state governed by radical Islamic law. Up to now, his methods have focused on localized guerrilla warfare, sending suicide bombers or gunmen to hit police targets or pick off officials from the Kremlin-backed regional governments...
...Carnegie Center in Moscow, says that at this stage, the government is more likely to tighten security around Russia's infrastructure and other vulnerable targets. But if Umarov's terrorist campaign continues, the exiled Musayev fears a ruthless response from Putin's government. "This could play right into the Kremlin's hands," he says. "It could give them an excuse to retaliate against the regular citizens in Chechnya who sympathize with the resistance, to bring new troops there, to tighten the screws just as they've always done when our leaders take responsibility for these crimes...
...Until the Kremlin finds the money to overhaul the system completely, Vyshenkov says a few cheap measures could help matters. For one, police officers should be required to wear uniforms embossed with the motto: "I selflessly serve the law." "It's not going to deter all officers from corruption," he says. "But maybe it will make three out of 100 embarrassed to take a bribe...