Bomb threat phone calls cause mass evacuations in Ukrainian airports
On Friday, November 10, a wave of phone calls about bomb threats in airports swept across Ukraine.
Service was suspended in particular at Odessa International Airport, one of the largest airports in the country.
"Today at 12:00, an unknown man called to the Director's office at Odessa International Airport and said that there [was] a car in a parking lot near the airport that contained explosives," the local police website said. Explosives specialists and service dogs were sent to the incident location. Civilian evacuations were also carried out.
Around the same time, the Ukrainian news reported that an unknown person had reported that a bomb was planted at an international airport in Zaporizhia. "At 11:51 on Friday, an unknown person reported on the explosives at Zaporizhia International Airport,” - said the Deputy head of the communications department of the National Police, Anna Maksimenko.
According to Maksimenko, passengers and airport employees were evacuated and flights were canceled.
Reports about the bomb threats also affected international airports in Rivne, Uzhhorod, Chernivtsi, Kherson, Dnipro, and Vinnitsa, report Ukrainian news agencies.
In total, there are 19 operating airports in Ukraine (not including the Crimean ones, which were de jure closed for flights).
In Kyiv, two interchange stations of the subway and a "tent city" on Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square were also evacuated following similar calls on Thursday.