So - the Kremlin "exploits" the St. Petersburg attack for its own political security purposes. Of course the USA would never think of doing so ..... 
Or ... then there is the invasion of Iraq, the "War on Terror", islamophobia at their borders. ....

It is a sad state of affairs indeed when such events are exploited by the scribbling classes to pontificate from their lofty predestals.

" .. First, despite Mr. Putin’s claimed popularity, the Russian economy is in wretched shape – one-dimensional, uncompetitive, corrupt and stagnant .. " 

May I inform the writer that Putin did not creat this mess - it is a hang over from the era of Marx, Lenin, Stalin and their acolytes. It should be a warning to anybody here who thinks socialism in its ultimate form, the absence of private property and free enterprise, is to be admired. It will take generations to revert such states to democratic governance, the rule of law and property rights.