Russia to spend extra €4.5bn fighting terrorism

Russia is pouring almost €4.5bn in additional funding into its security agencies, the first concrete new step in the anti-terrorism battle that President Vladimir Putin has called the country’s major priority.

“The fight against terrorism requires a long-range perspective,” Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said in announcing the funding – a day after Putin proposed a major extension of Kremlin control over Russia’s political and security structures.

In response to a series of terrorist attacks that killed some 430 people in the past three weeks, Putin said a central, powerful anti-terror agency must be created, but details were not made public.