Finding the organizers of the terrorist attacks in the Moscow metro is a matter of honor for the security agencies, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said during questions at a conference on transport security on Tuesday.
Two deadly suicide bombings hit the Moscow metro on Monday, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 70. The blasts ripped through the rush-hour Lubyanka and Park Kultury stations with an interval of about 40 minutes.
"We know that they are lying low. But it is a matter of honor for the security services to drag them out from the bottom of the sewers into the light of God" Putin said. "I am convinced that this will happen."
This is not the first time that Putin has used sewage analogies in response to terrorists. In 1999, during his first term as prime minister under then president Boris Yeltsin, he famously threatened to "wipe them out in their outhouse."
The phrase did much to establish Putin's "tough guy" image, on which much of his popularity is based.
On Tuesday, Putin also praised the work of the rescue services at the site of the explosions.
"I want to thank the fire, rescue and medical services, and anyone who helped people, for your professional, well-managed work" he said. "It was without a doubt carried out at a highly professional level."
He also promised to take steps to improve Russian security.
"We must and will think about the development of CCTV systems. We will improve the technical means of detecting explosives, rescue systems and ways of warning and informing citizens," he said
"I think it's clear to all that this is not a matter of the money and recourses we are prepared to put aside for solving this problem. It's a matter how effectively we can find a solution."
MOSCOW, March 30 (RIA Novosti)
