Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Russia deployed police with bomb- sniffing dogs on Moscow's subways and tightened security at international airports after receiving warnings of a possible terrorist attack.

Security forces received information from ``foreign partners'' that extremists may be planning attacks against surface transport and the subway, a press officer with the FSB security service in Moscow said today. The official, who declined to be identified, would not say which countries or groups warned Russia.

Russia hasn't yet confirmed the information from its foreign partners, Nikolai Sintsov, official spokesman of the country's National Anti-Terrorism Committee, said on state television today. ``Information received from foreign colleagues hasn't been substantiated at this point,'' he said.

Russia has faced repeated terrorist attacks, most of which have been blamed on separatist Chechens, since the 2000 election of President Vladimir Putin. They include the 2002 siege of a theater in central Moscow in which more than 120 hostages were killed during a rescue operation and a 2004 attack on a school in Beslan, in the North Caucasus, which left 334 dead.

Airport Security

At Moscow's main international airport, Domodedovo, security forces ``are working under a strengthened regime,'' the airport's press service said in a statement. It gave no further details. Travelers who flew out of Domodedovo today said the airport was working quickly and efficiently, with a high security presence visible and relatively few passengers.

Security procedures were also tightened at the capital's other international airports, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo, the Interfax news agency reported. The agency said Interior Ministry troops were also on high alert.

OAO Russian Railways, which operates 80,000 kilometers (50,000 miles) of track across 11 time zones, said it increased security especially ``at stations and other places where people gather in mass numbers.''

Russian law enforcement officials seized explosives today en route to the oil-rich region of Tyumen, Sintsov said.

Two men from the neighboring region of Sverdlovsk were arrested at the Plekhanovo railway station in Tyumen, western Siberia, for attempting to smuggle 9.2 kilograms of TNT and 10 meters of safety fuse, Interfax said, citing unidentified officials from the FSB. The two men were being interrogated, Interfax reported.

Phone Service

Mobile phone companies cut off service in the subways at the request of security officials, the state-run RIA Novosti news service reported.

Russia fought a war with separatists in the southern region of Chechnya from 1994 to 1996, after which Russian troops withdrew, leading to de facto independence for the region.

Putin sent troops back into the area in 1999 in an attempt to bring Chechnya under central control after apartment bombings in Moscow that were blamed on separatists killed more than 300 people. Russian troops are now largely in control of the region although sporadic fighting continues.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sebastian Alison in Moscow at Salison1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 17, 2007 10:40 EST