Black Widow May Not Have Entered Sochi, Report Says
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Obtained by ABC News(MOSCOW) — Fears that a so-called Black Widow suicide bomber had slipped into Sochi, Russia ahead of the Winter Olympics may have been misplaced.
An official from Russia’s Federal Security Service (known by its Russian acronym FSB) told the Moscow Times that “we still have not found her.”
The official was quoted saying, “She might have never left Dagestan in the first place.”
Dagestan is considered the most violent region in Russia. Located just a few hundred miles from Sochi, on the other side of the Caucasus Mountains, it is home to a violent separatist insurgency. It is also the origin of the individuals, including at least one other Black Widow, who authorities say were responsible for a series of attacks in nearby Volgograd, Russia, that rekindled terror fears before the Olympics began.
Calls by ABC News to the FSB in Sochi to confirm the Moscow Times report were referred to the FSB headquarters in Moscow, which declined to comment without a formal letter requesting comment. They said they might or might not respond to such a letter within two to seven days.
Wanted posters featuring the potential suicide bomber’s photo and biographical information were distributed to hotels and checkpoints in Sochi in the weeks before the games, prompting fears that Russia’s Olympic security plans had been compromised. The posters said it was believed she had entered Sochi.
The FSB official told the Moscow Times that officials do not believe there is any immediate threat to the games at this time.
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