REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MOSCOW - Russia's counter-terrorism agency says it's studying a video posted by group that asserted responsibility for suicide bombings that killed 34 people last month and is threatening to strike the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Security experts say the Russians are right in taking the threat seriously.

Two Russian-speaking men featured in the video are identified as members of Ansar al-Sunna, the name of a Jihadist group operating in Iraq. It was unclear whether the men in the video had received funding or training from that group or only adopted its name.

The video was posted online Sunday by a group in Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic in Russia's volatile North Caucasus. The Olympic host city of Sochi lies only 500 kilometers (300 miles) west of Dagestan.

Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee said Monday it was studying the video and would have no immediate comment. The video couldn't be viewed in Russia, where Internet providers cut access to it under a law that bans the "dissemination of extremist materials."

In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman Monday said the US has offered support to the Russian government as it conducts security preparations for the Winter Olympics. Rear Adm. John Kirby said the US will offer air and naval support, including two Navy ships in the Black Sea, to be available if requested "for all manner of contingencies," in consultation with the Russian government.

Russia has responded to the Islamic threat by introducing some of the most sweeping security measures ever seen at an international sports event. Some 100,000 police, army and other security forces have been deployed, according to analysts, and tight restrictions have been placed on access to the Sochi area.

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