Russia’s largest resort city, one of the very few places in Russia with a subtropical climate, with warm to hot summers and mild winters, Sochi, located on the Black Sea coast will host the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games in 2014.
With more than $50 billion spent, according to Time Sports, this will be the most expensive Olympics ever. Many people have attempted to boycott the 2014 Winter Olympics, including British actor Stephen Fry who published an open letter to David Cameron and to the International Olympic Committee asking for a boycott and relocation of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. There has also been concern regarding possible terrorist attacks primarily by Islamist militants.
Reuters has reported that, the Winter Games in Sochi will coincide with the 150th anniversary of the expulsion of Muslim Circassians from the Black Sea coast that resulted in the estimated deaths of 1.5 million people. Circassians living in the U.S. have staged demonstrations to protest the International Olympic Committee’s decision to host the games in Sochi.
With the Olympics bringing 6,000 athletes from 85 countries to Sochi, safety is a top priority. CNN reports that Russia’s leaders say “they’ve stepped up the security around the area in a “Ring of Steel” that attackers won’t penetrate.”
President Obama offered Russian President Vladimir Putin the full security assistance of the U.S. at next month’s Olympic Games, via White House phone call, according to Fox News. Putin has 40,000 cops deployed inside the 1,500-mile so-called “Ring of Steel.”
“The fact that one individual either was able to stay in the area before the ring of steel went up or get through it really raises questions about the strength of the Russia security apparatus,” said Christopher Swift, a Georgetown University professor who has studied militant groups in the North Caucasus.
“The specific worry is that she’s a woman and because of that it’s easier for women to infiltrate indoor or outdoor venues, that she could be a bomb carrier.”
The terror group led by Doku Umarov has threatened attacks against the Winter Games in Sochi. A possible female suicide bomber who may have already made it past the ring of security set up for the Olympic Games, 22-year-old woman is Ruzanna Ibragimova, using the nickname Salima. Police in Sochi have already started a search for the woman.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Olympic Committee reacted to the situation by saying that the safety of Team USA is their “top priority.”
According to Telegraph UK, Reuters reported on Sunday that U.S. military and intelligence officials have been studying contingency plans for evacuating Americans from the games in case of a crisis. For jobs in Russia, click here.
Image Credit: www.theguardian.com