Acclaimed television host Leonid Parfyonov recently gave a highly critical speech of Russian media censorship at an awards ceremony back in November.

“Journalistic topics, and with them all of life, was definitively divided into what was allowed on TV and what wasn’t allowed on TV,” he said. “Each politically significant broadcast is used to guess the government’s goals and problems, its mood, attitude, its friends and enemies.”

While the speech was broadcast on national television, parts of it were cut, with the unedited version only available online.

As the main source of news for the majority of Russians, state censorship of television has long prevented opposition members from reaching as wide an audience as the ruling party, United Russia, is able to enjoy. Without that kind of exposure, their ability to convey messages to the public is severely limited.

So it was an interesting twist to hear Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin say he has no problem with oppositionists appearing on television.

In a meeting with Putin on Thursday, Vladimir Posner asked how the prime minister felt about showing oppositionists on Channel One. In response, Putin said he was not against it and was fine with the fact that “oppositionists lie when they’re on the media, in particular on certain radio channels.” As he put it, “somebody has to lie, because somebody wants to hear those lies.”

Posner specified that, when posing this question, he “had in mind such people as Boris Nemtsov or Garry Kasparov, and not Vladimir Zhirinovsky or Gennady Zyuganov.” Zhirinovsky and Zyuganov head the Liberal Democratic and Communist parties, respectively, and while they are technically opposition parties, they generally toe the Kremlin line.

“If Putin publicly answers my question by saying that he is not opposed to the opposition [appearing on television], it gives me the opportunity to tell the management of Channel One, to Konstantin Ernst’s face, that I would like to invite some specific people onto the air,” said Posner. He stressed that he would now be able to “repel any objections,” since he now has the proper “sanctions from the authorities.”

Ideally, doing this would not require spoken or written approval from the highest levels of government in the country, but “that’s not possible in Russia today,” Posner said.

He lamented that Putin’s rise to power has negatively affected his show Vremena.

“It was real, alive; we discussed relevant issues…but when Putin began to introduce, as they call it, the power vertical, it affected a lot, including the mass media. It gradually became harder and harder, first of all, to touch upon certain topics, and secondly, to say certain things, and I’ve ceased to enjoy the program,” said the host.

Speaking on Ekho Moskvy radio on Friday, Posner said he’d like to invite some opposition figures onto his show as soon as possible and that he’s already discussed this with Channel One management.

“I’m going to try right after this Sunday’s broadcast to have one person or another from the opposition come onto the show,” he said.

According to preliminary information, the explosion occurred at 4:32 pm local time after a man carrying a bag entered Domodedovo’s international arrivals area, where a large crowd was waiting at the baggage claim. The bomb that then exploded was at least as powerful as 5 kilograms of dynamite and was filled with metal screws and bolts to heighten its impact.

Eyewitness accounts and videos began streaming in from social media soon after the explosion. “A bomb exploded in Domodedovo. People are covered in blood, there’s smoke everywhere…” said Twitter user ann_mint, who says she works in the airport. “Everyone’s running somewhere. It’s awful.”

Another airport worker said that many foreigners were among the victims: “There were many Africans, people who didn’t speak Russian in general.”

Other witnesses said the baggage claim was filled with smoke and the smell of ash. A series of videos on YouTube and Twitter filmed during the immediate aftermath of the explosion showed thick smoke and piles of charred bodies, as well as medical personnel wheeling victims out of the airport. According to RIA Novosti, airport workers dismantled part of a wall to widen the exit for the victims.

Early reports of the number of victims varied. According to the Ministry for Emergency Situations, 168 people were injured, 74 of whom have been hospitalized. Moscow regional governor Boris Gromov told journalists that 34 people had died, two of them in the hospital.

Meanwhile, Domodedovo’s press service reports 35 dead and 46 injured. Sofia Malyavina of the Ministry of Health and Social Development reported 35 dead and 130 injured.

A statement on Domodedovo’s website confirmed that the explosion had occurred in the international arrivals area, “where people who aren’t passengers have free access.” It also said that the airport was operating normally, and that aircraft were still being allowed to land and take off as usual.

State authorities are calling the attack an act of terrorism. Operatives from the Federal Investigative Committee have been dispatched to the airport.

Authorities have reportedly found the head of a man who appears to have been the bomber. “The head of a man of Arab appearance has been found; he was approximately 30-35 years of age; he presumably set off the explosive device,” a source told Interfax.

The three men who have been identified as suspects were apparently already wanted by Russia’s federal security services before Monday’s attack. According to RIA Novosti, a recent operation had been carried out to detain the suspects in Moscow’s Zelenograd district, but was unsuccessful.

Investigators were careful to say that the bomber was not necessarily a “suicide bomber.”

“Until relevant expert analysis has been carried out, you need to be very careful when dealing with different types of terminology, including the word ‘suicide bomber,'” said one official, explaining that the bomb could have been detonated remotely, unbeknownst to the man carrying it.

In response to the attack, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev postponed a trip to Switzerland, where he planned to arrive on Tuesday to participate in the World Economic Forum. According to Gazeta.ru, the president ordered Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Governor Gromov to go to Domodedovo personally to ascertain the situation. “Everything needs to be done… to obtain quick information and conduct an investigation without delay,” Medvedev said at a press conference.

Chief of the Ministry of Health and Social Development Tatyana Golikova was sent to the airport by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in order to determine what kind of aid would be necessary for the victims. “A project for a government ordinance on providing material aid to the families of the victims needs to be prepared,” the prime minister said in a meeting with Golikova.

Moscow city officials said that the families of victims would be compensated with funds from the city budget.

“Aside from federal payouts, families of the victims will be compensated with 2 million rubles, critically-injured victims by 1.5 million rubles, those with moderate or mild injuries – 1 million rubles,” said Mayor Sobyanin. In addition, funerals for deceased victims would be free. “All of these services should be free,” said the mayor.