Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday that armed criminals could be “liquidated on the spot,” calling the blast that tore through a Saint Petersburg supermarket and wounded 14 people an “act of terror.”
On Wednesday evening, a homemade bomb placed in a locker at the supermarket in northwestern Saint Petersburg, Russia’s second city and Putin’s hometown, sowing panic among customers and wounding 14 people including a pregnant woman.
President #Putin declares explosion in St.Petersburg a terrorist attack, orders to scrupulously follow the law when detaining those responsible for the crime, but if there is a threat to law enforcement officers' lives, they need to "act decisively, kill terrorists on the spot" pic.twitter.com/QlTxmplnub
— Russian Embassy in South Africa 🇷🇺 (@EmbassyofRussia) December 28, 2017
“As you know, an act of terror took place in Saint Petersburg yesterday,” Mr. Putin said on Thursday, speaking at a ceremony to award officers who took part in Russia’s Syria campaign.
He said he had ordered the nation’s security services to “act decisively” and “liquidate bandits on the spot” if armed militants put up resistance.
His spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters later that the Russian leader was referring to all those “who harbour plans to carry out acts of terror in our country.”
