Russia bomb death toll rises to 300

Almost 300 people have now died in the campaign of apartment block bombings in Russia which officials are blaming on Chechen-backed Muslim rebels who have been fighting Russian forces in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan.

The latest bomb, in the provincial town of Volgodonsk yesterday, was the fifth in 17 days and has put severe pressure on Russia's politicians, many of whom are being blamed for being unable to control the situation within the world's largest country.

No one has admitted responsibility for the blast - Chechnya has denied involvement in the campaign - which killed at least 17 people, left a huge crater filled with murky water and ripped the facade off a nine-storey block that was home to more than 400 people. The bomb, left in a truck parked close to the building, also injured dozens of people.

Last night, a Russian businessman, Mr Boris Berezovsky, who has built up strong links with the North Caucasus, predicted the spate of bombings would last a long time.

In Moscow, many ordinary citizens have begun to blame the city's mayor, Mr Yuri Luzhkov. Yesterday, the mayor, speaking immediately after his meeting with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, took the opportunity to point out that the security situation was one that concerned "the whole country and not just Moscow".

In Moscow, where Mr Luzhkov has promised a huge security clampdown at all of the city's 30,000 apartment blocks, there was a greatly increased security presence on the streets yesterday with soldiers and Interior Ministry troops joining city police.

President Yeltsin, for his part, vowed he would bring an end to the terror. "We will not let the terrorists reach their goal. They will not break us," Mr Yeltsin said. He sent a message of condolences to the governor of the Rostov-on-Don region in which Volgodonsk, almost 700 miles from Moscow, is situated.

Mr Yeltsin also demanded that frontiers with the breakaway republic of Chechnya be closed so that all possible routes into Russia by terrorists be cut off.

The Rostov-on-Don area was mentioned as a target for terrorists by Mr Vyacheslav Izmailov, a former army officer and journalist who has been involved in negotiating with Chechen rebels concerning the release of the hundreds of hostages in the region.

His informant said there would be 10 bombs in all and that the Moscow, St Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don areas had been singled out by Slavic bombers hired by Chechen extremists under the command of Mr Shirvani Basayev, brother of the Chechen warlord, Mr Shamil Basayev.

Foreigners were being asked to re-register with police in Moscow this week as many apartment blocks set up vigilance committees to watch out for unusual occurrences. All rented apartments were due to be checked following reports that renting flats and filling them with explosives was the main modus operandi of the killers.