Ruzanna ibragimova biography for kids

Ruzanna Ibragimova, the main suspect, is a so-called Black Widow — a woman willing to kill herself, and others, to avenge the death of a loved one.

Ibragimova, whose militant husband was killed last year, is far from alone. Russian security forces are searching for a pair of other female militants because of concerns that they'll try to hit targets in Sochi or in Moscow and other major cities.

The Russian soldiers and police officers have good reason to worry:

Yulia Yuzik pointed out in Foreign Policy that Asiyalova may be a new kind of "Black Widow" -- not motivated by revenge, but a mere instrument for a "convenient way to conduct a war by terror."

Robert Pape, Lindsey O'Rourke and Jenna McDermit of the Chicago Project on Terrorism and Security (CPOST) wrote in a New York Times op-ed that militants began using female suicide bombers after the outbreak of the second Chechen war with Russia in 1999. As the usual guerrilla tactics and hostage-taking proved ineffective, they turned to Black Widow attacks. "New tactics were employed and women were central from the start," they wrote.

Last summer, Foreign Policy contributor Anna Nemtsova estimated, in an article for the Daily Beast, that 46 female suicide bombers carried out 26 attacks in Russia over the last 12 years. Adding the Volgograd attacks, that number today is 27 or 28 (a December attack on the Volgograd train station was also cautiously attributed to a female bomber). According to the CPOST database, female suicide bombers killed 389 people and injured nearly 1,000 more between 2000 and 2011.

Chechen separatism within Russia

In June 2000, the North CaucasianChechenseparatist-led Checheninsurgents added suicide bombing to their tactics in their struggle against Russia. Since then, there have been dozens of suicide attacks within and outside the republic of Chechnya, resulting in thousands of casualties among Russian security personnel and civilians. The profiles of the suicide bombers have varied, as have the circumstances surrounding the bombings.

Although the most publicized Chechen suicide attacks have taken place in Moscow, most attacks have occurred in Chechnya, while several additional attacks have taken place in the extended North Caucasus region and particularly the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia. The majority of suicide bombings, targeting military installations and government compounds in and around Chechnya and also top government officials, have been directed against those whom the separatists consider to be combatants.

Summary

As of 2014, most of the bombers appear to be ethnic Chechens, although there have also been multiple examples of ethnic Ingush, Dagestani, or Ossetian bombers. Of the non-Chechen bombers, most of the attacks have been carried out by Ingush bombers, an ethnic group closely related to the Chechens (the Ingush bear a separate set of grudges against Russia, including Russian support of the Ossetian side of the East Prigorodny Conflict). None of the attacks so far have occurred in the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria or with any known involvement of local rebel groups there.

There is no evidence of any foreign involvement in either the planning or execution of Chechen attacks aside from the inspiration from the tactics employed in the Arab–Israeli conflict. Female suicide bombers, referred to as "sh