A few weeks ago Russian television viewers were treated to a live broadcast of a visit to the Chebarkul training ground in the Chelyabinskii Region by none other than the Minister of Defence Anatoliy Serdyukov and President and Supreme Commander Dmitry Medvedev.  In addition to a simple photo op of the two men inspecting the troops, a counter-terrorism action was ordered and performed before the cameras.  Special forces disguised as journalists and doctors (!) stormed a home, in which ‘militants’ were hiding out. A woman in a white robe first pulled the robe off herself and then pulled a pin out of a grenade. And then she hurled the grenade through the window of the home (and perhaps the robe too- the ‘militants’ would have been so surprised they would have thrown in the towel without a fight.)  It was not unlike a bad action movie.

It all ended well. The ‘militants’ were destroyed, and they received distinguished awards from the very hand of the Supreme Commander himself.