At least 10 people were killed on Monday when an explosion tore through a train carriage in a metro tunnel in the Russian city of St Petersburg. The Interfax news agency said the blast may have been caused by an explosive device hidden in a briefcase. The Investigative Committee, a state body which investigates major crimes, has opened a criminal case on charges of terrorism.
Russia has suffered a number of deadly attacks in recent years:
October 31st, 2015
Islamic State uses an improvised bomb to bring down a Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, killing all 224 people on board.
December 29th-30th, 2013
Two suicide bombers kill 34 people in attacks on railway station and trolleybus in the Russian city of Volgograd, less than two months before the start of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
January 24th, 2011
More than 30 people are killed and about 130 injured in a suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo airport.
March 29th, 2010
At least two blasts strike Moscow metro stations during rush hour, killing 40 people.
November 27th, 2009
A bomb blast derails the Nevsky Express train between Moscow and St Petersburg with about 700 people on board. At least 26 people are killed and 100 injured. Chechen rebels claim responsibility.
August 21st, 2006
A bomb kills 10 people and injures 50 in a Moscow suburban market.
September 1st-3rd, 2004
More than 300 hostages – half of them children – die in a chaotic storming of School No 1 in Beslan after it is seized by rebels demanding Chechen independence and an immediate end to the war.
August 24th, 2004
Two Russian passenger planes are blown up almost simultaneously, killing 90 people. One Tu-134, flying to Volgograd, goes down south of Moscow. Moments later a Tu-154 bound for Sochi crashes near Rostov-on-Don.
February 6th, 2004
A suicide bombing kills at least 39 people and wounds more than 100 on an underground train in Moscow, in what police attribute to the work of Chechen separatists.
December 5th, 2003
An explosion tears through a morning commuter train just outside Yessentuki station in southern Russia. Forty-six people are killed and 160 injured.
October 23rd-26th, 2002
129 hostages and 41 Chechen guerrillas are killed when Russian troops storm a Moscow theater where rebels had taken 700 people captive three days earlier. Most of the hostages are killed by gas used to knock out the Chechens.
August 8th, 2000
A bomb kills 13 and wounds 90 in a crowded Moscow underpass.
September 1999
Bombs destroy apartment blocks in Moscow, Buynaksk and Volgodonsk. More than 200 people are killed. Moscow blames Chechens who in turn blame Russian secret services.