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Games organizers have introduced some of the most extensive identity checks and security measures ever seen at an international sporting event. But even if security at the Games is tight, many analysts suggest that the Volgograd bombings show how public transit in Sochi and sites away from the sports venues are vulnerable.

Police reinforcements and Interior Ministry troops have been sent into Volgograd, regional police official Andrei Pilipchuk was quoted as telling the Interfax news agency. He said more than 5,200 security forces are deployed in the city of 1 million, but did not say how much of an increase that was from normal levels.

Officers and security guards carefully searched the purses of young women entering a shopping centre and waved metal detectors over both males and females.

The Cossacks guarding some bus stops added an unsettling note. Although these units are officially authorized volunteer patrols, they are descendants of the fierce horsemen who protected the czars and launched raids on Muslims in the Russian Caucasus, where the Islamist insurgency is now centred.

Volgograd authorities have cancelled mass events for New Year’s Eve, one of Russia’s most popular holidays, and asked residents not to set off fireworks. In addition, all movie theatres have been closed until Thursday. In Moscow, festivities were to go ahead, but authorities said security would be increased.

Vladimir Putin, in his New Year’s Eve address to the nation, vowed that the fight against terrorists will continue “until their destruction is complete,” Russian news agencies reported. The Russian president said he would pursue the fight against terrorism in a “tough and consistent” manner.