The Russian Defense Ministry said that the forces of the Western Area of ​​Responsibility for Air Defense (ADD) conducted a training session on interaction with civilian air traffic control authorities, emergency services and law enforcement agencies.

“During the training, the air defense forces on duty worked out the issues of detecting, intercepting and identifying the alleged target of the intruder, as well as interacting with emergency services and law enforcement agencies in the event of an emergency,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

As specified in the department, fighters from the duty air defense forces of the Western Military District were involved in the practical part of the training, which made sorties to work out interception issues and identify the conditional target of the intruder.

Flight restrictions over St. Petersburg

On the morning of February 28, the media reported on the suspension of flights from Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg.

Around 11:00 on February 28, the government of St. Petersburg officially announced the flight delay until 12:00.

The statement noted that the airport and all its services are operating normally.

In turn, the media reported that the airspace over Pulkovo was closed within a radius of 200 km.

According to RIA Novosti, citing its own source, the reason for the closure of the airspace was allegedly the discovery of an unknown object in the air.

At that time, it was reported that the airspace over the city would be closed until 13:20.

Also on russian.rt.com Domodedovo airport commented on the restriction of the air zone over St. Petersburg

From the data of the Flightradar24 service, it followed that there was not a single aircraft in the sky over St. Petersburg after 11:00.

Later, TASS reported that several planes that had previously taken off from Moscow's Vnukovo airport for St. Petersburg were returning to their point of departure.

As the agency reported with reference to the press service of the airport, transfers of other flights bound for Pulkovo were also expected.

TASS also reported that Aeroflot intends to adjust the schedule of several flights due to Pulkovo restrictions.

In turn, Domodedovo Airport also told RT that the return of flights departing on the Moscow-St. Petersburg route was due to the restriction of the air zone over St. Petersburg.

As the situation developed, Ural Airlines and S7 announced that they had received permission to take off from Pulkovo and land their aircraft.

The government of St. Petersburg announced the removal of all restrictions in the airport area around 12:30.

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, when asked by journalists about the situation in the airspace of St. Petersburg, urged to wait for official information about what is happening.

"Let's focus on the statements and clarifications that have already been or will follow from the aviation authorities or the military," Peskov said, adding that airspace is expected to open in the near future.

Peskov clarified that the president has all the information about the situation.

“The president has complete information on this matter.

It would be wrong for us to talk about it.

This should be done by those who are responsible for it,” he said.