Fake Bomb Threats Force Evacuations of Buildings in Belarusian Capital

Paul Goble

            Staunton, March 31 – In a disturbing echo of the telephone fake bomb threats that have emptied hundreds of buildings in Russian cities over the last two years, a similar phenomenon emptied two shopping centers, a railroad station, and a parking garage in the capital of Belarus today (belsat.eu/ru/news/s-vokzalov-galileo-i-zamka-v-minske-evakuirovali-lyudej/).

            Officials provided little information, but they did use Twitter and a Telegram channel to inform the population (twitter.com/GUVD_Minsk/status/1112326569303904256 and t.me/skgovby/1002), and they issued a statement warning that anyone could engaging in this kind of telephone terrorism faces up to five years in prison (belsat.eu/ru/news/fejkovyj-miner-torgovyh-tsentrov-v-minske-mozhet-sest-v-tyurmu-na-pyat-let/).

            Such evacuations, if they follow the Russian pattern, are likely to increase over the next few days and spread both panic and anger at the authorities for their apparent inability to do more than evacuate buildings (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/02/russians-struggle-with-continuing.html).