The subway bombings last Monday in Moscow, which killed at least 38 people and left more than 60 others injured in two separate suicide attacks about 45 minutes apart, seem to suggest, based on preliminary information about the likely identities of the bombers, that the insurgency in Russia's semi-separatist region of Chechnya, in the northern Caucasus, is not over yet.
Although Moscow had not been hit with a similar bombing in six years, the insurgency in Chechnya has been active. Russian authorities say two rebel leaders had been killed in recent weeks. The Moscow bombings may have been direct retaliation or may seem to follow an Internet threat from rebel leader Doku Umarov in February that "the war is coming to their cities."
The rest of the world can only hold its metaphorical breath and hope that no international connection is discovered, that it turns out to be Chechnyan "black widows" — women, usually the widows of Chechnyan fighters killed by the Russians, who are vulnerable to pleas to become "martyrs" in part because widows in that culture can expect little in the way of a future anyway.
That makes it an internal matter, at least to Russian authorities who view Chechnya as part of Russia and so resist separatist impulses. If a foreign connection were found Russia might feel a perceived need to do something more drastic than doubling-down on its ongoing crackdown in Chechnya.
One can shake one's head at the apparent inability of Chechnyans and Russians to come to a settlement on semi-autonomy or marvel at the desire of large countries to hang on to small provinces that give them nothing but trouble. As a practical matter there is little or nothing Americans or their government can do, so expressing regret and sympathy should be the extent of our involvement.
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