The Volgograd double attack has arguably awaken the Russian authorities. Security measures unprecedented in Olympic history came into effect on Tuesday in Russia, one month ahead of the opening of the Winter Games in Sochi. Moscow can also count on the support of Washington.

Without special permission, no access to Sochi!

Henceforward entry of all motorists in Sochi is filtered and access to this city of 350,000 inhabitants is closed to vehicles from outside and which do not have special permission. The forces already deployed in large numbers in this seaside resort between the shores of the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains are reinforced Tuesday in what appears to be one of the most visible measures.

This device shall enter into force one month before the Olympics, from 7 to 23 February, and will continue until March 23, a week after the close of the Paralympic Games (March 7 to 16). Some 37,000 police and units of the army will be mobilized to ensure the safety of the Games, the largest international event organized by Russia since the collapse of the USSR in 1991. An appointment during which President Vladimir particularly wants to make this world gathering a showcase of Russia.

These exceptional security measures had been decided a long time, especially to cope with the terrorist threat, the head of the Islamist Caucasus rebellion, Doku Umarov, who called in July to prevent the Games in Sochi ” by all means “ . But fears that Islamists militants launch attacks during the Games were reinforced by two suicide bomb-attacks in the late December, which killed 34 people in Volgograd (southwest), 700 kilometers from Sochi.
Desperate times call for desperate measures
“As of January 7, all units responsible for the safety of participants and guests at the Olympic Games will be ready to respond at any time “ , said Monday the Russian Minister of Emergency Situations Vladimir Poutchkov, without giving figures about the mobilized manpower. Monitoring will also perform from the sky with a satellite system, has he added, noting that “all safety issues at the Olympics “ would now be set at the “highest level “.

In addition to the severe restrictions on traffic, navigation in the Black Sea is also limited from Tuesday. The Russian Army will also participate in security operations for the preparation and conduct of the Games, which are part of its mission in the context of “new threats to internal security “, said recently the commander of Russian Ground Forces, General Vladimir Chirkin. Armed forces will plant at Sochi air defense systems Pantsir -S, a new generation of surface-to- air missiles. Russia will also monitor all communications through a system that allows the FSB to access all the telephone and on the internet, whose existence was revealed in late 2013 by two Russian journalists.

Washington ready to intervene

For their part, the United States were willing to help Russia to ensure safe Olympics “if demanded”, said last week the U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu.

Last weekend, the Russian President gave in to pressure from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) finally allowing events during the Games in a “special area”, referring to an initial decision to ban any protest. But the safety device in place for the Olympics, controlled by the powerful Federal Security Service (FSB), is even more severe than that in force during the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008.