The Russian police are hunting for a woman they fear may be planning a suicide bomb attack in Sochi during the Winter Olympics in February.
Tens of thousands of police have been deployed to find her, and wanted posters have been put up in hostels around the town.
A guard uses a metal dectector on a passenger at a security checkpoint in Sochi airport. Photo: AFP
The woman, 23-year-old Ruzanna Ibragimova from Dagestan in the North Caucasus region, is believed to be the widow of an Islamist militant.
Photographs show a woman in a hijab, wearing a long dress. Reuters reports that she may have arrived in Sochi earlier in January, bypassing tight security ahead of the Games.
At least two other potential female suicide bombers are also at large in the region, other police posters state.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched one of the biggest security operations in Olympic history, and has personally inspected sites for the winter games. More than 30,000 police and interior ministry troops have been deployed and access to the area limited.
Security fears were heightened after two suicide bomb attacks killed 34 people in the southern city of Volgograd on 29 and 30 December.
