ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA — Russian authorities reportedly closed the airspace over St. Petersburg today due to unidentified flying objects (UFOs) seen 160 kilometers from the city of St. Petersburg.

Russia closed its airspace after a UFO was seen floating over St Petersburg. According to local media reports, Five Russian jets scrambled to search for the "intruders" over St. Petersburg. Pulkova Airport, which is 23 kilometers south of St. Petersburg City, was closed to landings and departures.

"The Air Defense Forces on duty worked out the issues of detection, interception and identification of the intended target of the violator, as well as interaction with emergency services and law enforcement agencies in the event of an emergency," Russian Defence Ministry said.

The aircraft tracking sites did not detect any civilian aircraft over St. Petersburg during the incident.


Pulkovo Airport temporarily suspended departures and landings at the moment," airport management said.

While different unconfirmed reports indicated that the object was an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a local journalist said that similar objects were also seen in the North Caucasus and Belogrod.

The restrictions were later canceled.