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Muscovites Defend Cab Drivers

Muscovites on Tuesday rushed to provide evidence of drivers who did not seek to profit from Monday’s dual metro bombings, responding to condemnations from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill a day earlier.

Many eyewitnesses insisted that far from all motorists and cab drivers used the suspension of a long stretch of the Red Line during the busy morning rush hour to charge exorbitant prices — sometimes 10 times as much as standard fees — to give people a lift to work.

“There were lines of cars that drove people for free,” a LiveJournal blogger with the nickname Kelni wrote in her post. “There were people who made a point of ferrying others around.”

“I hitched rides with four cars getting to work,” writer Linor Goralik said in her blog. “No one agreed to take money.

“I personally saw many people who prompted my admiration and respect.”

During a government meeting on the suicide bombings, which killed at least 39 people and interrupted metro traffic, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday urged business people who “work with transport” not to inflate their fees.

“I urge everyone to not abuse the situation, not inflate prices, not create additional problems, but on the contrary show solidarity with the people who are in a lurch,” he said.

City Hall on Monday condemned cab drivers who hiked their rates.

“It’s amoral to make a profit from someone’s grief,” a transportation and communications department spokesperson said, Interfax reported.

The city sent more than 130 additional buses to carry stranded metro passengers Monday.

Patriarch Kirill was also indignant after several media outlets ran reports about private taxi drivers who were trying to earn some extra money Monday.

“This money will be of no good to you,” he said in a statement to motorists after a memorial service for those who died in the bombings. “Give it back or use it for good causes.”

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