The Atlantic

How Russians Got Used to Terrorism

If there’s too much of it, it stops being terrifying.
Source: Grigory Duko / Reuters

The last time a Russian subway was bombed, it was almost exactly seven years ago in Moscow. That time, in March 2010, it was two young Dagestani women who blew themselves up on two spots on the red line, one of them just under Lubyanka, the headquarters of the FSB. Some 40 people died and dozens were injured, and, because it was the first time in years that Moscow had been attacked, observers predicted that it would be a game changer. Some said that it would mean a massive operation in the North Caucasus regions of Russia where the suicide bombers were from. Others said it would mean that

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