Russian embassy security stepped up after Beirut attack

NEWS OF possible attacks on Russians in Europe and the Middle East has caused the Cyprus government to step up security at the Russian embassy and other Russian interests.

Justice and Public Order Minister Nicos Koshis said yesterday that the government had increased security measures because they had received “supplementary information.”

“There is information that during this period certain Islamic organisations, illegal criminal organisations, will carry out criminal activities against Russian citizens, institutions and other Russian interests in Europe and the Middle East,” Koshis said.

“We received the information and have taken our measures some time ago as we usually do in such cases,” he added.

Asked if security measures had been stepped up after Monday’s attack on a building near the Russian embassy in Beirut, Koshis said that measures had been reinforced.

A heavily armed gunman was killed in Beirut yesterday after he launched grenades in the direction the Russian embassy compound. A policeman also died in the ensuing gun battle. The man left a note saying he wanted to die in solidarity with Muslim rebels in Chechnya.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.