We are tragically all too familiar with many incidents of terrorist mass murders by suicide bombers in places such as Iraq. But when there were two similar separate attacks by female suicide bombers in Moscow, there was real surprise.
There were initial reports that at least 38 people had been killed and scores more people had been wounded.
Russian security agents said their preliminary investigations suggested the killers were motivated by enmities involving separatist movements in the Caucasus Mountains of Chechnya, where there have been many violent incidents.
The suicide bombings Monday were in the heart of Moscow.
Those who have traveled in Russia’s capital city are familiar with what once was the notorious Lubyanka Prison, the headquarters of the KGB secret police during the harsh Communist days. One blast occurred at a subway station near that site, which is the headquarters of what is now called the Federal Security Service.
The bombing there occurred just before 8 a.m., when the station and the area were filled with unsuspecting people going about their business.
The second murderous bombing came about 45 minutes later, at the busy Park Kultury subway station.
We unfortunately are familiar with the oppression of the old Soviet system throughout nearly a whole century. There are some separatist elements rising up violently in Russia. But the mass murders in Moscow, of completely docile and innocent civilians by suicide bombers, have come as terrible and totally senseless tragedies.