Bomb threat, Russia evacuates more than 10,000 people in the capital

Police set up barricades outside a shopping mall in Moscow after it was evacuated. Photo: Twitter.

Twenty locations, including Moscow’s largest train stations, shopping malls and at least one university, were quickly evacuated, RT reported. Emergency services said special units with sniffer dogs had arrived at the areas to conduct checks.

More than 10,000 people were evacuated, according to an unnamed source. "It appears to be a terrorist attack by phone, but we need to look more closely at the authenticity of the messages," the source added.

Bomb threats have also been reported in other cities, from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the Far East to Siberia and Kaliningrad, according to Bloomberg.

More than 45,000 people have been evacuated from airports, schools and government buildings across Russia in the past two days due to a series of fake bomb threats. According to local media, the anonymous calls were made via an Internet-based communication system, making them difficult to trace.

"This has never happened before, there is 100% certainty that this is an organized act of telephone terrorism," said Frants Klintsevich, deputy chairman of the Russian Senate's defense committee. "The only goal is to cause chaos and panic. It is also possible that these are preparations for a serious terrorist attack."

According to VNE