MOSCOW, RUSSIA (ANS) -- At 7:30 this Monday morning of Easter week, bombs exploded at two Moscow subway stations, killing at least 40 people and wounding 102 according to early reports. Two female suicide bombers carried out the attacks. The bombs reeked havoc on Moscow’s famed Metro system during the jam-packed morning rush hour.

Medical team deal with a person injured in the Moscow bomb blast (Photo: CNN)

While no group has yet to claim responsibility for these senseless attacks, officials in the Federal Security Service (FSB, which is the old KGB) quickly pointed fingers at rebels from the Northern Caucasus region. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin cut short his visit to Siberia and declared that the “terrorists will be destroyed.”

Russian Ministries has told ANS that Paul Tokarchouk, director of the Association for Spiritual Renewal, Russian Ministries’ in-country affiliate in Moscow, expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims.

“We need to pray for peace in the hearts of the many people touched by this bombing,” Tokarchouk said. “We also need to pray for wisdom for our authorities, and finally, we need to bring the hope we have in God to the people around us.”

He also pointed out that this is “a special week, the week before Easter, the resurrection of Christ. We are blessed to have a future in Christ, because He is not dead, but among the living.”

Russian Ministries also told ANS that Alexei Smirnov, newly-elected leader of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, cautioned against rushing to blame any particular group, and pointed out that, “The world in which we live is evil and sinful. We can only empathize with those who have suffered and pray for God’s grace for them.”

A spokesperson for Russian Ministries said, “While far removed from Moscow, the Northern Caucasus region has become an especially violent breeding ground for terrorists.

“There is light in this darkness as Russian Ministries’ young Next Generation Christian leaders in this very region effectively share the good news of Jesus’ peace and reconciliation, especially through Russian Ministries’ evangelistic summer camp ministry.

“One of these summer camps takes place in Grozny, the capital of war-torn Chechnya, from where many of the terrorists come. Also, Russian Ministries' training program, School Without Walls, has a program in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, in the region.

“Recently 13 young people from South Ossetia, Georgia and Dagestan were baptized in Vladikavkaz. These young Christians represent a new generation of young people, who would rather follow Jesus and proclaim His peace than follow the trail of violence that has destroyed the lives of thousands of people in the Northern Caucasus.

For more information, contact Jean at Russian Ministries for staff interviews: jean@russian-ministries.org  or (630)462-1739, ext. 200. The website is: www.russian-ministries.org.

Dan Wooding, 69, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding also a regular contributor to The Weekend Stand on the Crawford Broadcasting Network, and a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. He is the author of some 43 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, also recently released “God’s Ambassadors in Japan” which is available at amazon.com.