ST. PETERSBURG. March 21 (Interfax) - The State Hermitage in St. Petersburg opened to visitors a couple of hours late on Thursday due to an inspection that followed a bomb threat.
"No suspicious objects were found on the territory of the Hermitage. The main museum complex and the staff of the State Hermitage are working normally," the museum said on the social network Vkontakte.
According to earlier reports, on Thursday morning, several museum employees received emails stating that there was a bomb in the building. Law enforcement officers were summoned to the site.
The museum had not been opened to visitors by that time and the only people there were employees, who were evacuated,
St. Isaac's cathedral and the Mariinsky Theater have reported inspections following anonymous threats.
St. Petersburg's shopping malls, schools, markets, and universities are being evacuated, eyewitnesses said on social networks.