Mass evacuations as Russia is plagued by hundreds of online bomb warnings
MORE THAN 45,000 people have had to vacate 200 “targets” in dozens of Russian cities after a wave of anonymous bomb threats were made over the past three days, sparking speculation of either foreign interference or a domestic anti-terror drill.
Yesterday, 15,000 had to quit various sites in Moscow, including Red Square, after calls were made to shopping centres, three railway stations and at least four universities.
Anonymous callers are reported to be using the internet to alert emergency services or facilities directly, claiming explosive devices were hidden inside buildings.
Since Sept 11 dozens of schools, universities, malls, railway stations, airports and government offices have been evacuated and inspected by police in 29 cities all over Russia – from Kaliningrad in the west to Vladivostok in the far east.
No traces of explosive devices have
been found so far in any buildings, the Meduza news outlet reported. Anonymous sources in law enforcement told the Interfax news agency that mass evacuations were prompted by a spam attack “masterminded from abroad”.
The state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited another anonymous source who said bomb threats were “coming from Ukraine”. But several regional news outlets quoted unidentified military officials who maintain that the evacuations are part of a Russian anti-terror exercise, performed in preparation for the staging of next year’s Fifa World Cup finals.
An administrator of a mall in Bryansk, who received a bomb call, told the Kommersant newspaper that the number displayed on her phone had 15 figures in it and started with +88, the country code for Bangladesh.
The caller spoke in Russian and told her to “leave the building” because “there is a bomb inside”.
In all cities investigations have been opened into “knowingly false reports of a possible explosion”, a criminal offence in Russia punishable by up to five years in prison.
Russia’s law enforcement bodies so far have made no official statement.
Gennady Gudkov, a Moscow-based security expert and former parliamentarian, told The Daily Telegraph that it is likely to be a criminal organisation testing new technologies.