Starting from the end of the 20th century , significant terrorist activity has taken place in Moscow , most notably apartment bombings and the Moscow theater hostage crisis . Many more acts of terrorism have been committed in Chechnya , Dagestan , and other parts of the country . German Social Democrat Karl Kautsky traces the origins of terrorism , including the one in Russian Empire , to the " Reign of Terror " of the French Revolution . Others emphasize the role of Russian revolutionary movements during the 19th century , especially Narodnaya Volya ( " People 's Will " ) and the Nihilist movement , which included several thousand followers . " People 's Will " organized one of the first political terrorism campaigns in history . In March 1881 , it assassinated the Emperor of Russia Alexander II , who twenty years earlier had emancipated the Russian serfs
apartment bombings
Russian apartment bombings
Terrorism in Russia