Russian President Vladimir Putin, giving an interview to Russian and foreign journalists in Sochi on Sunday, has promised the Games will be safe.(Photo: Aleksey Nikolskyi, AFP/Getty Images)
A new terror threat to the Sochi Olympics surfaced Sunday, according to reports.
ABC News reported that Islamist militants in Russia released a video recorded by two suicide bombers who said the Olympics will not be safe because of the presence of Russian forces in the North Caucasus region. The opening ceremony will be held in 19 days in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.
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"We'll have a surprise package for you," the men in the video said, according to the report. "And those tourists that will come to you, for them, too, we have a surprise. … This will be our revenge."
The video was posted on a Chechen extremist web site and included security footage of two suicide bombings in the southern city of Volgograd. Thirty-four people died in two bombings last month.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and government officials have reassured visitors for months that the country's security forces will do everything they can to keep the Games safe. On Sunday, he reiterated the point, according to CNN.
"We will draw on the experience acquired during similar events held in other regions of the world and in other countries," said Putin, who added 40,000 law enforcement and special services officers will be deployed for security. "It means that we will protect our air and sea space, as well as the mountain cluster."
The Sochi Olympics will be held in two clusters — with ice sports such as hockey and figure skating on the coast and skiing and sliding sports in the mountains.
Putin said security will be visible but visitors should feel welcome.
"We will try to make certain that the security measures are not intrusive or too conspicuous, so they are not too noticeable for the athletes, the Olympics' guests or journalists," Putin said.
Members of Congress expressed serious concerns Sunday, saying Moscow needs to cooperate more on security.
"We don't seem to be getting all of the information we need to protect our athletes in the games," said Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. "I think this needs to change, and it should change soon."
Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said from Moscow that he planned to be in Sochi on Monday to assess the security situation.
"All the briefings that I've received, from the intelligence community to the FBI and others, indicate that there are serious concerns, and that we need to do a lot to step up security. I do believe Putin is doing a lot of that," said McCaul, R-Texas.
No one has claimed responsibility for December bombings in Volgograd. But the blasts followed Chechen warlord Doku Umarov's call to launch attacks on the Olympics.
"I would not go, and I don't think I would send my family," said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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