MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. More than one million people have been evacuated from various public facilities over bomb threat calls in 170 Russian cities since September 11, a law enforcement agency source told TASS on Monday.

"During the period from September 11 to October 16, 2017, more than 2,600 public facilities, including malls, schools, railway terminals, airports, cinemas, night clubs and administrative buildings, came under attack by so-called telephone terrorists. More than one million people were evacuated," the source said, adding that every bomb scare call was checked by law enforcers. "All proved to be hoax," he said.

A wave of anonymous bomb threat calls in Russian cities has been underway since September 11. Among the targeted facilities are shopping centers, administrative buildings, schools, passenger train stations, airports, museums and night clubs. Messages about explosive devices allegedly planted at crowded sites prove false but thousands of people have to be evacuated each time. Criminal cases have been opened over the false bomb threat calls in Moscow and other cities under Article 207 (knowingly false information about act of terror) of the Russian Criminal Code.