Bolanle Akanji
Moderator
A former paramedic, Pavel Pechyonkin who converted to Islam and joined a militant cell could be the Volgograd train station suicide bomber according to investigators.
This is a change from the 26-year-old woman Oksana Aslanova who was previously the prime suspect.
Pechonkin, who left to join Dagestani militants in 2011, is believed to have carried out the devastating attack which killed 17 people on Sunday.
The Muslim convert who posted a video on Youtube saying that he was following God's will, that he would not turn back and that he working to earn a place in heaven.
His video was a response to a message from his parents Nikolai and Fanaziya, who begged him not to use violence and described their lives as 'hell' without him.
Pavel's father Nikolai spoke about his conversion: 'My son changed for the better. He stopped arguing with me, did not drink, went to the mosque. I bought him Halal meat.'
He vanished six months ago following a visit to Moscow. His parents heard he had gone 'in the forest' with rebels and made an internet appeal for him to return.
In response to the video appeal, Pavel said: 'I didn't want to watch your appeal, I thought that it would weaken me, that it would make me softer.'
'Why should we follow those Christian commandments, when Allah, may he be glorified, urges us to fight those kafirs [unbelievers].
'Why shouldn't we leave their children orphaned?'
Investigators might take DNA from Pechyonkin's father to see if it is a match to tissue found at the scene.
17 people are known to have died in the blast, with more than 50 left injured.
A witness Alexander Koblyakov said: ‘People were lying on the ground, screaming and asking for help. I helped carry out a police officer whose head and face were covered in blood. He couldn’t speak.’
This is a change from the 26-year-old woman Oksana Aslanova who was previously the prime suspect.
Pechonkin, who left to join Dagestani militants in 2011, is believed to have carried out the devastating attack which killed 17 people on Sunday.
The Muslim convert who posted a video on Youtube saying that he was following God's will, that he would not turn back and that he working to earn a place in heaven.
His video was a response to a message from his parents Nikolai and Fanaziya, who begged him not to use violence and described their lives as 'hell' without him.
Pavel's father Nikolai spoke about his conversion: 'My son changed for the better. He stopped arguing with me, did not drink, went to the mosque. I bought him Halal meat.'
He vanished six months ago following a visit to Moscow. His parents heard he had gone 'in the forest' with rebels and made an internet appeal for him to return.
In response to the video appeal, Pavel said: 'I didn't want to watch your appeal, I thought that it would weaken me, that it would make me softer.'
'Why should we follow those Christian commandments, when Allah, may he be glorified, urges us to fight those kafirs [unbelievers].
'Why shouldn't we leave their children orphaned?'
Investigators might take DNA from Pechyonkin's father to see if it is a match to tissue found at the scene.
17 people are known to have died in the blast, with more than 50 left injured.
A witness Alexander Koblyakov said: ‘People were lying on the ground, screaming and asking for help. I helped carry out a police officer whose head and face were covered in blood. He couldn’t speak.’
