Russia: 50.000 people evacuated after anonymous bomb threats

In over 200 buildings

More than 50.000 people have been evacuated from public buildings, shopping malls and schools in Moscow and its environs following anonymous e-mail bomb threats, according to Russian news agencies.

"As of 18:00 Moscow time (Greek time), 119 facilities have been inspected in Moscow following bomb threats, another 82 facilities have been inspected in the Central Federal District, including the Moscow region," a spokesman said. emergency services at the Russian news agency Sputnik.

He added that the threat of a bomb had led to the evacuation of at least 30.000 people in Moscow and 19.000 in areas of the Central Federal District, including the Moscow region.

According to him, a total of 84 facilities in Moscow and the Central Federal District have already been inspected and the threats turned out to be false.

Evacuations also took place in St. Petersburg, the country's second-largest city, which had received similar false bomb warnings in recent days. However, no suspicious objects were found during the investigations that followed these evacuations.

According to authorities cited by the Russian media, these notices were sent by e-mail from abroad, especially from Ukraine.

By the end of 2017, there had already been a massive wave of anonymous phone bomb threats in Russia, which had caused a great deal of unrest and led to the evacuation of a total of more than two million people. No bombs were ever found.

Although the financial losses are difficult to estimate, security officials had estimated them at hundreds of millions of rubles, or many millions of euros.

According to the Russian security service FSB, the phone calls were made by Russian citizens who are abroad and have a network of accomplices in Russia.

Source