MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Such calls have been received in 144 Russian cities, claiming bombs were planted in thousands of buildings, a source in the emergencies services told Sputnik on Monday. They have hit the country a month ago.
"Since September 11, the calls about 'bombs' have been received at 2,340 buildings in 144 cities of the country. A total of 960,000 people have been evacuated," the source said.
On September 14, a law enforcement source told Sputnik that the calls were made from abroad by persons associated with the Daesh terrorist group, which is banned in Russia.
On Thursday, Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said that the first days of calls alone incurred damages of over 300 million rubles (some $5.2 million).
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the situation "telephone terrorism," adding that all the necessary measures were being taken to find the perpetrators.
