Peskov reports 60 false bomb threats on Putin's motorcade route in St. Petersburg
The President’s Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov, has said that more than 60 false calls were received on Friday reporting 50 explosive devices laid along the route of the Russian president’s motorcade to St. Petersburg.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited St. Petersburg on Friday, where he took part in a Cultural Forum and met with cultural figures.
"Approximately 60 calls were received, which reported approximately 50 explosive devices laid in various facilities, including along the way of the presidential motorcade and at facilities near the locations that the President was supposed to visit in St. Petersburg," Peskov said.
The Security Service did everything possible in this situation, he stressed. At the same time, attention was drawn to the fact that this work did not create unnecessary discomfort, the spokesman added, noting that the calls did not affect the schedule of the Head of State.
Peskov also said that the reports of the bomb threats came from abroad. “It has still not yet been established. On the other hand, there is no doubt that sooner or later [this] will be established, there are no doubts. This was [done by] telephone hooligans, telephone terrorists, you can call them whatever they like. Sooner or later, of course, they will be found," the spokesman promised.
A wave of telephone terrorism hit Russia on September 11, and has spanned 75 regions. Over the past two months, since the beginning of the mass bomb threat calls that have occurred across 186 cities nationally, more than 2.3 million people have been evacuated, including more than a quarter of a million people in Moscow. In no case did the explosives threat prove to be true. According to the FSB, economic damage from the "bombs" has amounted to 150 million rubles (about $2.5 million) in Moscow alone.