MOSCOW, July 3 (UPI) -- Russian security officials said the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi would be safe despite a recent threat from a militant leader in Chechnya.
The National Antiterrorist Committee (NAK) issued a statement Wednesday saying Russia's police and special services were ready and on alert for any threats to the games.
"Despite calls by various gang leaders ... active in certain regions of the North Caucasus, all of Russia's state institutions, special services and law enforcement bodies are constantly implementing a set of measures aimed at providing security for Russian citizens," the statement said.
The NAK statement came in response to an Internet video from Doku Umarov urging Islamist militants "not to allow" the Sochi games to take place. Umarov is the fugitive leader of Imarat Kavkaz, a Chechen militant group branded as a terrorist organization, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency said.
