Russian Police Investigate Possible Suicide Bombing in St. Petersburg Metro Explosion

Interfax news agency has reported that Russian police are investigating the possibility of a suicide bombing in the explosion at the St. Petersburg metro. Reports indicate that on Monday, an explosion occurred in a train carriage between two metro stations in St. Petersburg, killing at least eleven people and injuring dozens. The news agency cited a Russian security official, stating that police have identified a potential suspect in the attack as a 23-year-old citizen of one of the Central Asian countries, but did not disclose the individual's name. Earlier, Russian media reported that police were searching for a man who was likely responsible for the explosion in a St. Petersburg metro carriage. According to these reports, police identified this individual based on surveillance camera footage. According to the Associated Press, Russian media later published an image of this man, who resembled citizens from Muslim regions of Russia. Meanwhile, Interfax reported that the individual whose image was released presented himself at a police station to prove his innocence. Reports indicate that the explosion occurred at 14:40 local time in a metro carriage between two stations in central St. Petersburg. Reports also indicate that Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, who had been in St. Petersburg hours before the explosion, visited the site of the explosion on Monday evening and laid a bouquet in honor of the victims of this incident. Russian media have published images of a carriage at the metro station that was damaged by the explosion. No group has yet claimed responsibility for this explosion. According to Reuters, Russia is concerned about Muslim fighters from Chechnya returning to the country from the Syrian war. Chechen rebels, who have a long history of seeking independence and fighting against the central Russian government, had previously claimed responsibility for the Moscow metro explosion. In 2010, two women killed 38 people and injured over 60 by detonating themselves in the Moscow metro. Chechen rebels later claimed responsibility for this attack. In 2004, following a hostage crisis at a school in southern Russia and a police assault on the school, over 330 people were killed, half of whom were children. Russian forces officially engaged in war with Chechen separatists twice in the 1990s until, in 2000, the Russian government agreed to form a pro-Russian government in the Chechen Republic.