Russia: Multiple explosions ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics

Five civilians and two police officers were injured in a restaurant attack in the Russian Republic of Dagestan amid the approaching Winter Olympics in Sochi, raising concerns about the security situation in Russia.

The Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, citing sources from the Dagestan Interior Ministry, reported that the initial explosion occurred when a grenade fired from a launcher ignited on the second floor of the restaurant. Later, as security forces arrived at the scene, a nearby car exploded, injuring two police officers.

Russian police check people in Red Square in Moscow on December 31, 2013. (Source: AFP/VNA)

According to Dagestan's Interior Ministry, the two explosions may have been the result of a dispute between local criminal groups or an act of hooliganism. Earlier, the leader of Dagestan's neighboring Chechen Republic announced that Doku Umarov, the rebel leader who threatened to attack the Sochi Olympics, had died.

The two explosions occurred in the Republic of Dagestan, located in the volatile North Caucasus region, not far east of Sochi, the city where the Winter Olympics are about to take place.

Extremists here are believed to be linked to the two December 2013 suicide bombings in Volgograd that killed 34 people, raising security concerns ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin later pledged to guarantee security for the Olympic Games taking place next month.

According to VNA