At least 32 people were killed, including six children, and about 150 wounded 9 May when a powerful explosion ripped through a Victory Day military parade in the city of Kaspiisk in Daghestan, Russian and Western news agencies reported. The Caspian Sea port city is home to a to a brigade of Russian marines, and most of the victims of the explosion were servicemen, including members of their military band, according to Ekho Moskvy, ntvru.com, and polit.ru.

The blast was caused by a mine that was detonated by remote control, according to AP. President Vladimir Putin was immediately informed of the incident and held an emergency meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and the chiefs of the security agencies. At that meeting, Putin appointed the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Nikolai Patrushev, to head the investigation. It was the second major terrorist act in Kaspiisk: in November 1996, 68 Russian Border Guard troops and members of their families died as the result of an apartment-building explosion.

(RFE/RL 09.v.02)