Russia closes its airspace on suspicion of drones
Russia has temporarily closed its airspace over St Petersburg to all flights. According to the announcement made by the city government on its official Telegram account, there are suspicions that an unidentified object or a drone has been seen.
Russia has temporarily closed airspace over St. Petersburg, data shows, and the city's Pulkovo Airport has temporarily suspended all flights, the city government said on Tuesday.
The announcement was made on the city government's official Telegram channel amid unconfirmed reports that an unidentified object or a drone was spotted above St. Petersburg.
"Pulkovo Airport temporarily does not accept or send aircraft," it said, without elaborating on the suspension.
200 SQUARE KM FIELD CLOSED
Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported that flights from the airport are delayed until 12 p.m. Moscow time, and that the airport is operating as normal.
The state-run TASS news agency also cited an unnamed source as saying that airspace within a 200-kilometer (124-mile) radius of Pulkovo Airport had been closed until 1:20 p.m. local time.
Russian news outlet Baza, reported that local authorities had introduced a "Carpet" plan after an unidentified object was seen in the city. Fighter jets had been despatched to investigate, it said.
PARTS OF THREE UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES FOUND
Baza reported that the airspace closure could be linked to an alleged drone attack overnight at a Rosneft oil depot in Krasnodar, which is located near to Russia's border with Ukraine.
And Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, located near the Ukraine border, reported that fragments of three drones were found in Belgorod on Tuesday morning.
(Newsweek)
