Ruzana Ibragimova is the subject of a search by Russian authorities in connection with terror threats against the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. 
 
 MOSCOW — Russian security services may be looking for as many as four “black widows” dispatched to carry out terrorist attacks related to the Winter Olympics, including at least one woman believed to be in or near the Olympic city of Sochi, U.S. and Russian sources told NBC News on Monday. 
 
 Wanted posters distributed in Sochi, where the games open Feb. 7, describe at least one suspected terrorist — Ruzana Ibragimova, also known as Salima, the 22-year-old widow of an Islamic militant killed by Russian security forces last year. 
 
 The notices describe her as having a limp in her right leg, a left arm that does not bend at the elbow and a 4-inch scar on her cheek. 
 
 In a video, recorded before their deaths, that has recently surfaced, two suicide bombers suspected of a deadly attack on a Volgograd train station threaten a "surprise" during the Olympics at Sochi. 
 
 The notices say that Russian security officials have been informed of her possible departure from Dagestan, a Russian republic in the restive Caucasus area, earlier this month, and that she may be used for an attack inside the Olympic zone. 
 
 Militant groups in the Caucasus are known to use “black widows,” female terrorists so called because some seek to avenge the deaths of their husbands. They considered by security experts to be harder to pick out in a crowd because they do not fit the stereotype of an Islamic militant and because they can easily alter their appearance with clothing and makeup. 
 
 The disclosure Monday added to terror fears as the games approach. On Sunday, a video surfaced in which two men from an Islamist militant group threatened to attack the Olympics, warning that “a surprise” is in store for President Vladimir Putin and tourists attending the games. 
 
 The men claim responsibility in the video for two suicide bombings last month in the Russian city of Volgograd that killed 34 people. The Olympic torch passed through Volgograd on Monday on its way to Sochi, where the games open Feb. 7. 
 
 “That which we will do, that which we have done, is only a little example, a little step,” one the men, from the Islamist organization Anars Al Sunna, says in the hour-long video, released Sunday. 
 
 “We’ll have a surprise package for you,” one of them says, addressing Russian officials. “And those tourists that will come to you, for them, too, we have a surprise.” 
 
 With less than three weeks to go before the opening ceremony, security in Sochi is already tighter than at most airports, and Putin has vowed to take every step necessary to protect the Olympics. 
 
 The video surfaced Sunday as American officials expressed frustration at what they called a lack of cooperation from Russian security officials. 
 
 “They’ve now moved 30,000 armed troops to the region. That tells you their level of concern is great,” Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on the CNN program “State of the Union.” 
 
 “But we don’t seem to be getting all of the information we need to protect our athletes in the games. I think this needs to change, and it should change soon.” 
 
 Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said on the same program: “I would not go, and I don’t think I would send my family.” 
 
 Russia has promised to protect Sochi within a “ring of steel.” The city is packed with metal detectors, bomb-sniffing dogs and explosive detectors. But groups threatening the Olympics say they will target not just the host city but other areas of Russia. 
 
 “I think the threats are real,” Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I think it’s more likely that the attacks would probably happen outside the perimeter, more soft targets, transportation modes, if you will.” 
 
 The Obama administration has asked the Pentagon to draw up plans for possible U.S. military assistance for Americans inside Sochi in the event of a terror attack, senior U.S. officials told NBC News on Monday. 
 
 The military’s European Command has worked up a plan that would rely on military assets already in place — moving warships into the Black Sea, where they routinely operate, and putting transport planes on standby at military bases in Europe. 
 
 The plan has not yet been submitted to the State Department or Pentagon, the officials said. 
 
 Any U.S. involvement in a military operation in Sochi would require a request from the Russian government to the State Department, then an order from President Barack Obama. 
 
 Senior U.S. military officials Monday suggested the likelihood that Putin would ask the U.S. for military help was zero. 
 
 The men in the video claim to be from Dagestan, about 1,000 miles from Sochi. Militants see an attack on the Olympics as a chance to humiliate Putin. 
 
 The men in the video appear to construct explosive devices and document, step by step, how they planned the Volgograd attacks. They say in a part of the recording directed at Russian officials that they “will continue to kill you and your soldiers.” 
 
 “This is for all the Muslim blood that is shed every day around the world, be it in Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, all around the world,” they said. “This will be our revenge.” 
 
 Putin said over the weekend that he “will try to make sure that the security measures taken aren’t too intrusive or visible and that they won’t put pressure on the athletes, guests and journalists.” 
 
 Albina Kovalyova reported from Sochi, Russia. Erin McClam reported from New York. Jim Miklaszewski of NBC News contributed to this report. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 
 
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 This story was originally published on ||||| Story highlights Police fliers warn that a terror suspect could be in Sochi 
 
 Official: Ships and aircraft will be ready to evacuate Americans if necessary 
 
 Video on jihadist website threatens Winter Olympics next month 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin says Olympics will be safe 
 
 New details fueled debate Monday over security at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi: Wanted posters of a terrorism suspect on the loose, warships at the ready and a video threat from beyond the grave. 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that his country has stepped up security and is prepared to handle any threats. 
 
 But some U.S. lawmakers -- and at least one Olympic athlete -- have said they're worried about the situation. 
 
 Hotels warned about terror suspect 
 
 Police in Sochi have handed out fliers at area hotels warning of a woman they believe could be a terrorist and who may currently be in the city. 
 
 One flier, obtained by CNN, asks workers to be on the lookout for Ruzanna "Salima" Ibragimova, described as the widow of a member of a militant group from the Caucasus region. 
 
 The woman, according to the flier, may be involved in organizing "a terrorist act within the 2014 Olympic region." 
 
 CNN obtained a copy of the flier, which is dated January 15, from security staff at a hotel in Sochi. The flier claims authorities have received information about Ibragimova's possible arrival in the region last week. 
 
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 Photos of Ibragimova have flooded television and social media reports from Sochi. Some describe her as a "black widow" -- a notorious type of terrorist that's emerged in Russia's clashes with Chechen separatists. 
 
 Many of them are wives of insurgents killed by government forces, and they've been blamed for high-profile suicide bombings 
 
 Security experts stressed Monday that the woman is likely one of many suspects authorities are trying to find. 
 
 "I guarantee they're talking about this one black widow," former CIA officer Mike Baker said, "but there are others that they're also worried about." 
 
 Official: U.S. military at the ready as contingency plan 
 
 The U.S. military will have up to two warships and several transport aircraft on standby under a contingency plan to help evacuate American officials and athletes from the Winter Olympics, if ordered, a U.S. official said Monday. 
 
 The State Department would take the lead in organizing and evacuating Americans, if necessary, the official with direct knowledge of the plan told CNN. 
 
 Moscow would have to ask for such assistance before the United States would act, the official said. 
 
 But planes and ships are clearly there "if something happens like a major terrorist attack and we need to get Americans out," the official said. 
 
 U.S. contingency planning calls for warships to launch helicopters to Sochi from the Black Sea. C-17 transport aircraft would be on standby in Germany and could be on the scene in about two hours. 
 
 Other aircraft contracted to the State Department would also play a role in any emergency. 
 
 A video threat from beyond the grave 
 
 In a video that surfaced Sunday, two young men believed to have been suicide bombers in last month's back-to-back bombings in the Russian city of Volgograd made an ominous promise. 
 
 "We've prepared a present for you and all tourists who'll come over," the video says. "If you will hold the Olympics, you'll get a present from us for the Muslim blood that's been spilled." 
 
 The video was posted on a well-known jihadi forum website Sunday and apparently was recorded before the Volgograd attacks, which targeted a train station and a trolley bus and claimed the lives of more than 30 people. 
 
 Putin pledges stepped up security 
 
 Putin has pledged that visitors to Sochi for the Winter Olympics will be kept safe. 
 
 Russia has plenty of experience in keeping international events secure, Putin said, pointing to the G8 and G20 summits as examples. 
 
 Access to Sochi is under heavy restriction ahead of the games, and Putin said Sunday in an interview with half a dozen Russian and international broadcasters that about 40,000 members of Russia's police and security forces would be guarding events. 
 
 Security analysts have warned that terrorists targeting the Games may try to strike elsewhere in Russia during the Olympics. 
 
 U.S. lawmakers: Games won't be safe 
 
 U.S. Sen. Angus King, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he wouldn't go to the Games himself, "and I don't think I would send my family." 
 
 Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, also called on the Russian government to be more cooperative with the United States on intelligence sharing ahead of the Games. 
 
 "Their level of concern is great, but we don't seem to be getting all of the information we need to protect our athletes in the Games. I think this needs to change, and it should change soon," Rogers said. 
 
 In recent weeks, U.S. law enforcement agents have been conducting interviews with people in the United States with ties in the Caucasus region, CNN has learned. 
 
 The region, which includes Dagestan and Chechnya, has been the scene of unrest and is in southern Russia, hundreds of miles from the venue of the Games. 
 
 The interviews are informational and do not mean there are any particular threats being investigated, a U.S. official said. 
 
 Law enforcement officials do "knock and talk" visits to meet people and to identify any potential issues. FBI agents conducted similar visits after last year's attack at the Boston Marathon. 
 
 When asked whether he thought Americans would be safe at the Games, former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden said he trusts Russia's ability to provide security. 
 
 "I think Americans will be quite safe," he said. 
 
 Will security concerns impact athletes? 
 
 Over the weekend, at least one Olympic athlete said he was worried. 
 
 "My concerns with Sochi is safety in a way, because it's in a crazy war zone in a way," French snowboarder Xavier de la Rue said. "It's in the middle of all these countries that want to kill Russia, so it's just scary 'cause I know that we're going to be a target in a way, although they do very well their job at keeping it safe but yeah, that's something that scares me a bit." 
 
 Tara Lipinski, who won a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics and will be attending this year's games, said she feels safe -- and hopes competitors will, too. 
 
 "There have been so many threats at the Olympics," she told CNN Monday. "I think athletes are used to that, and they know that, OK, we're going to hear about this. But when we go, we have people that are surrounding us and telling us where we should be and where we shouldn't be. And hopefully they do feel safe." 
 
 CNN National Security Analyst Frances Fragos Townsend described the security climate in Sochi as "the most dangerous threatened environment that we've seen for the Olympics." 
 
 But she said competitors shouldn't have to worry. 
 
 "They'll go to real extremes to protect the athletes and the venues. ... There's a big falloff, though, when you talk about the families and the tourists," Townsend said. "There really is, I think, a far greater vulnerability." ||||| Maxim Shemetov / Reuters file Sochi's Olympic Park is seen in December. 
 
 A catastrophic terrorist strike at the Sochi Winter Olympics would present the United States with a logistically mind-boggling and diplomatically delicate challenge: How to get more than 200 American athletes safely out of Russia. 
 
 U.S. military officials have described plans to use two warships in the Black Sea and planes already on standby in Europe to evacuate Americans if the worst fears of security experts come true. 
 
 But these are the Olympics of President Vladimir Putin, who is spending a reported $50 billion on the games, including a purportedly impenetrable “ring of steel” around the Olympic city, and who sees the games through a prism of national pride. 
 
 Any American rescue operation would depend heavily on his approval, security experts say. And that’s unlikely if not impossible. 
 
 NBC News' Richard Engel reports from inside the difficult-to-reach Coastal Cluster in Sochi. 
 
 “As far as being able to do things without Russian cooperation, it’s basically a nonstarter,” said Andrew Weiss of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a former Russia expert in the Clinton White House and an NBC News analyst. 
 
 “This is their territory, their country,” he said. “They get to decide what kind of outside help they need.” 
 
 Fears of Olympic terror have grown in the countdown to the games, which formally open Feb. 7. In the past week, a militant video has promised a “surprise” in Sochi, and Russia has hunted for at least five suspected terrorists who may have designs on an attack. 
 
 On Tuesday, police said they had killed a senior Islamist militant in Russia's North Caucasus as they hunted three Muslim women dubbed “black widows” and other terror suspects ahead of the Winter Olympics. 
 
 So while Putin’s ring of steel may help thwart larger coordinated attacks, experts are warning that lone attackers also pose a significant threat to the Games. 
 
 According to Gordon Woo, terrorism expert at risk management modeling firm RMS, analysis shows that terror plots involving up to 10 operatives have a 5 percent chance of succeeding. 
 
 Ezra Shaw / Getty Images Snowboarder Kelly Clark at a competition earlier this month. 
 
 "Smart terrorists" rein in their ambition and aim for simpler plots with fewer operatives, he said. 
 
 The U.S. Olympic Committee declined to discuss the details of security for the American athletes or what would happen in the event of an evacuation. 
 
 “The safety and security of Team USA is our top priority,” Patrick Sandusky, a USOC spokesman, said in a statement. 
 
 “As is always the case, we are working with the U.S. Department of State, the local organizers and the relevant law enforcement agencies in an effort to ensure that our delegation and other Americans traveling to Sochi are safe,” he said. 
 
 But at least part of the American contingent for Sochi, the skiing and snowboard teams, is paying a private company, Global Rescue, for additional security. 
 
 The company promises communications help, “rally points” for athletes to shelter in place and ways to get them around, or out of, Sochi. Dan Richards, the CEO, said in an interview that Global Rescue has six aircraft that it could “utilize for rapid response.” 
 
 Exactly how that would work — a private security company landing its planes in or around Sochi in the immediate aftermath of an attack — is not clear, and Richards declined to provide details of the company’s plans. 
 
 Global Rescue also offers its services to individuals and companies, and in recent years has helped customers during the Arab Spring, the earthquake in Haiti and the tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan. 
 
 Counterterrorism analyst Michael Leiter says transportation in Russia is vulnerable in the high-threat areas surrounding Sochi. The terrorists who previously launched an attack, he said, have every incentive to do so again. 
 
 “In every major crisis we’ve been involved with, we’ve never had host governments deny us overflight or landing permission,” he said. “The likelihood is that we’ll all work together, the Russians, our government, other friendly government and other private companies.” 
 
 Richards would not say what the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association is paying for the additional protection. The skiers and snowboarders are among the richer American teams. 
 
 The American luge team — 10 athletes and four coaches, plus medical and support staff — will rely on the U.S. Olympic Committee, said Gordy Sheer, the team’s director of marketing and sponsorship. 
 
 “They’re working pretty hard, and we’ve been given a lot of assurances,” he said in a phone interview. “I feel that the USOC is really making it a priority, and obviously the Russians are as well.” 
 
 There are signs of concern among American athletes. Some, including at least two members of the high-profile hockey team, have told their families not to travel to Sochi to cheer them on. 
 
 “I’m actually really concerned about it,” Zach Parise, one of the hockey players, told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul. “I know they say they have evacuation stuff for us and all, but you just never know. I guess you have to wonder at what point does someone say it isn’t a good idea for us to go.” 
 
 The biathlon team has bought satellite phones for its coaches and is recommending that traveling families of its 10 athletes purchase medical and evacuation insurance — the same already provided to Olympic athletes by the USOC — should anything go wrong, said Max Cobb, president and CEO of U.S. Biathlon. 
 
 Other American athletes say their minds are on getting ready for competition. 
 
 “I’m not worried about any safety issues in Russia at this point,” said Kelly Clark, a snowboarder competing in her fourth Winter Games. “We’re so focused on our competition and on our sport.” 
 
 U.S. officials say the terror threat is higher than at any previous Olympics. The State Department will have diplomatic security officers in Sochi, though it has declined to say how many, and the FBI will have a presence as well. 
 
 Evan Vucci / AP file President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin last June. 
 
 “The Russian government has the lead here for security,” Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, told reporters. “Obviously we’ve said we’re happy to assist in any way we can, certainly for American citizens.” 
 
 President Barack Obama spoke with Putin this week about Olympic security, and Russia has raised the possibility of the Americans’ sharing bomb-detecting technology for the games. That would mean having American military personnel on the ground to help. 
 
 But senior defense officials told NBC News on Wednesday that there was little or no chance that the technology could be in place in time. It would take months to train the Russians, and there has been no discussion of using the system in Sochi under total American control, they said. 
 
 And the Olympics take place at a time of frayed U.S.-Russian relations — tested by the Edward Snowden affair and the Boston Marathon bombings — not to mention the long shadow of the Cold War. 
 
 A large-scale attack would trigger almost unimaginable complications, said Weiss, the Russia expert. 
 
 For example: At least 85 countries and 2,500 athletes are taking part in the games. Sochi has a fairly small airport, so who gets to fly out first? And why should the Americans be given priority? 
 
 “Something that looks like the U.S. cavalry riding to rescue Russia or Vladimir Putin from an attack seems — well, it’s just hard to imagine that happening,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s all on Russia.” 
 
 Catherine Chomiak, Courtney Kube, Jim Miklaszewski, Andrea Mitchell and Michele Neubert of NBC News contributed to this report. 
 
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 This story was originally published on ||||| Russian police perform security checks on a journalist at the entrance of church during Orthodox Epiphany celebrations in Sochi, Russia on January 19, 2014. (Photo: Alexander Demianchuk, Reuters) 
 
 Concerns raised by members of Congress about the safety of Americans at the Sochi Olympics and the release of a video by two purported suicide bombers underscored the terror threat Russia faces as it prepares to host the Winter Games in 18 days. 
 
 An Islamic militant group in the volatile Caucasus region threatened to attack the Games and claimed responsibility Sunday for two bombings last month in the southern city of Volgograd which killed 34 people. 
 
 U.S. authorities, however, were analyzing the group's video posted on an extremist website, and it was immediately unclear whether the boasts of the two unidentified men represented a credible threat to the Games, a federal law enforcement official said. 
 
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 The official, who is familiar with the video but not authorized to comment publicly, said there was no definitive evidence to indicate whether the two men pictured in the video were linked to the Volgograd bombings. 
 
 Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas-R) said he planned to be in Sochi today to assess the situation. "All the briefings that I've received, from the intelligence community to the FBI and others, indicate that there are serious concerns, and that we need to do a lot to step up security. I do believe (Vladimir) Putin is doing a lot of that," said McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, on ABC's This Week. 
 
 Others called for more cooperation from Moscow on security issues while raising concerns for Americans going to Sochi. "I would not go, and I don't think I would send my family," Sen. Angus King (Maine-independent) told CNN. 
 
 "We don't seem to be getting all of the information we need to protect our athletes in the Games," said Rep. Mike Rogers (Michigan-R), who appeared on CNN's State of the Union and CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday. 
 
 The State Department has advised Americans attending the Games to keep vigilant about security because of potential terrorist threats and crime. 
 
 Last week Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said Doku Umarov, who made threats against the Games, has died. He had no proof of Umarov's death but said the information was obtained through communications between other rebel leaders. 
 
 U.S.Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky reiterated Sunday that the USOC works closely with the State Department to ensure athletes' safety, which is the general practice for every Games. 
 
 In the aftermath of the bombings, some American athletes said they had full confidence in the host country's security measures. "Putin is not going to compromise security. This is his baby," speedskater Patrick Meek said.
– Russian authorities believe that as many as four women intend to launch terror attacks targeting the Sochi Olympics, and that one might already be in or near the city, sources tell NBC News. Wanted posters are already up in Sochi for Ruzan Ibragimova, aka Ruzana, a 23-year-old woman described as having a limp, a left arm that doesn't bend at the elbow, and a 4-inch scar on her cheek. Russian security forces killed her husband last year. "Black widows," the bereaved wives of fallen militants, are common agents for Caucasus militant groups, prized for their ability to avoid attention. US officials were already getting worried about Sochi security, complaining that Russian authorities weren't sharing information, CBS reports. "I think fundamentally, they don't want to admit that they don't have complete control here," one former CIA official said. Yet despite the fears—and an explicit video threat—the US is sending a smaller-than-usual security team, the Wall Street Journal reports. About 40 FBI personnel are headed to Sochi, the smallest US contingent in a decade. But CNN adds that the US military is planning to have two warships stationed nearby in the event that an evacuation is necessary.