Wave of telephone terrorism reaches Moscow

Thousands of people were evacuated today as a wave of hoax bomb threats has swept Moscow and Moscow region.   

As of 13:45 local time, 89 buildings in Moscow have received messages that explosives had been planted at their sites, their number in Moscow region reached 25. More than 21,000 people were evacuated only in Moscow.

In particular, reports were received of alleged bombs in schools, shopping centers, and administrative buildings. So far, no explosives have been found in any of the locations.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from public buildings in at least seven Russian regions over bomb threats this January. Wave of emailed bomb threats across Siberia have been confirmed as a hoax.

Since September 11, 2017 a wave of phone calls has swept across Russian cities and towns. Moscow’s emergency services had received about 600 bomb threat calls, while more 100 threats were received in the Moscow region. Almost 2 million people were evacuated. Emergency services combed through secondary and higher schools, shopping malls, airports, railway stations, hotels and governmental buildings. The threats turned out to be hoaxes.