MOSCOW—President Vladimir Putin paid a predawn visit to Volgograd on Wednesday, meeting with survivors of twin suicide bombings that killed 34 people this week and promising beefed-up security around the country ahead of the Winter Olympic Games.
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President Vladimir Putin visited a clinic in Volgograd where victims of this week's twin bombings are receiving treatment. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Mr. Putin had ordered security to be tightened in the immediate aftermath of the bombings, which struck just 425 miles from the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where the Olympics are to be held in less than six weeks. The first was on Sunday at the city's main railway station and another came less than 24 hours later aboard a packed trolley bus.
While no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, a leading rebel active in the nearby North Caucasus region had vowed over the summer to disrupt the Games. Investigators say early indications suggest Islamist militants from the restive area were involved.
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Putin on Wednesday visited a Volgograd hospital. Itar-Tass / Zuma Press
"Whatever motivated the criminals' actions, there's no justification for committing crimes against civilians, especially against women and children," Mr. Putin said at a meeting with the heads of the Federal Security Service and the Interior Ministry, according to a partial transcript posted on the Kremlin website.
Later, Mr. Putin visited the site of Monday's bombing, which left 16 people dead, to place a large bouquet of red roses at a makeshift memorial. He also visited a hospital to meet with some of the 65 people still being treated for injuries.
A city of about one million people, Volgograd has been under heavy security since the attacks. More than 4,000 police, paramilitary troops and a group of volunteers were stopping people for checks and searching hundreds of homes, hotels and transit points for signs of further terrorist plots.
Russia has planned some of the most rigorous security measures ever seen for the Games, stationing tens of thousands of troops and police officers in and around the venues, but the attacks exposed vulnerabilities in areas farther afield.
The country has struggled for decades with terrorism, but in recent years has managed to contain the violence largely to the volatile North Caucasus region, where bombings and clashes between police and militants are frequent.
Mr. Putin had remained out of sight immediately after this week's attacks, making his first public comments about them in a nationally televised New Year's Eve address to the nation.
"We bow our heads to the victims of these brutal attacks," he said. "I am confident that we will forcefully and strenuously continue the fight against terrorists until they are completely annihilated."
The remark came only in an unusual second address that appeared in most of the country. Earlier, in Russia's extreme Far East, a different address making no mention of the attacks was aired. An hour later, Mr. Putin made the comment at a speech delivered at a New Year's celebration with a large group of people in the city of Khabarovsk near Russia's border with China—a region that suffered from devastating floods in 2013.
He then boarded a plane and flew to Volgograd, landing at around 5:30 a.m. Moscow time.
Corrections & Amplifications
President Vladimir Putin visited Volgograd on Wednesday. A previous version of this article incorrectly said it was on Thursday.
Write to Lukas I. Alpert at lukas.alpert@wsj.com