Airspace over St Petersburg closed and fighter jets take off as unidentified object spotted in the sky
200 square kilometres of the airspace were closed in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, and the local Pulkovo Airport stopped accepting planes for landing after an unidentified flying object (UFO) was detected over the city.Later, the restrictions were cancelled.
Source: Baza, Russian independent Telegram channel; government of St Petersburg on Telegram; Russian state-owned news outlet RIA Novosti, referring to the city's emergency services
Quote from Baza: "The Kover (Carpet) plan was put into action in Saint Petersburg because of an unidentified object in the skies. Pulkovo Airport does not accept planes. The Kover plan is being used in cases of illegal border crossings or the appearance of UFOs."
Quote from the government of St Petersburg: "Flight delays of up to 12 hours have been announced at Pulkovo Airport. The airport and its services are operating as usual."
Quote from RIA Novosti: "The sky over St Petersburg in the Pulkovo district is closed due to an unknown object."
Details: According to the Baza Telegram channel, fighter jets are flying in the sky over the city.
According to Flightradar, civilian aircraft do not fly to St Petersburg.
Russian social media channels report that flights passing through St. Petersburg's airspace are being turned around in the air.
The airspace over the city is closed until 13:00.
Almost all flights are displayed with delays at the Pulkovo Airport.
According to Fontanka, an unidentified flying object was spotted 160 to 200 kilometres from St Petersburg. The agency also posted a photo of the fighter jets in the sky.
Update: At 11:31, the St Petersburg government reported that the sky over the city is "open: all temporary restrictions have been cancelled".
This is also confirmed by the Flightradar24 website.
Russian President's spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not disclose the reasons for the closure of the airspace over St Petersburg, but stated that Putin had full information on the matter.
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