Bomb Suspects? Russia's Teeming With Them

The usual suspects? For a terrorist bombing in Moscow, there may be too many to round up. Russian authorities confirmed Thursday that an overnight explosion that killed 23 people and injured more than 150 was caused by a 450-pound bomb, opening another round of speculation as to the identity of the perpetrators. Although a caller to the Interfax news agency claimed the attack was a "response to the bombing of villages in Chechnya and Dagestan," that’s unlikely to close the betting on the identity of the perpetrators.

Coming hard on the heels of last weekend’s car-bomb attack that killed scores of people in an apartment block used by Russian military personnel in Dagestan — and the renewed offensive by Islamic separatists there — the temptation to link the latest Moscow blast to the turbulence in the Caucasus is strong. But the blast also follows last week’s attack on a games arcade in a shopping mall near the Kremlin, which sparked speculation that a gangland turf battle was involved, or, conversely, that the attack was part of a pattern of provocation by unnamed forces in the corridors of power designed to create a climate of instability as an excuse for a declaration of martial law. That, in turn, would facilitate the cancellation of December’s parliamentary election and next year’s presidential poll. "Law enforcement here talks not about a list of suspects but a list of ‘versions,’" says TIME Moscow correspondent Andrew Meier. In the minds of Muscovites, all of the above may be plausible "versions." "And," says Meier, "in Moscow the perception may be as important as the reality." With the Caucasus far from pacified and the swirl of scandal around the Kremlin increasing the incentive for its current occupants to hang onto the lease as long as possible despite looming elections, that will leave Muscovites bracing for further nasty surprises.