An unidentified flying object has been spotted near a nuclear power plant near Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, according to new reports.
A warning signal was issued around the Leningrad nuclear power plant in the Russian city of Sosnovy Bor, local and state media reported Wednesday. The object was moving at about 200 kilometers per hour (124 miles per hour) at an altitude of approximately 10,000 meters (33,000 feet), Russian sources reported.
The alert triggered a “special response status,” a military official told Russian online newspaper Lenta.ru. Reserve Colonel Andrey Koshkin then suggested to state media that “there was nothing unusual here and this is a normal situation.”
“It is possible that it is a weather balloon,” he added, which could be of “Russian or foreign origin.” However, Russian authorities have yet to provide an explanation for the unidentified object.
A view of a nuclear power plant in St. Petersburg, Russia. An unidentified flying object was spotted near a nuclear power plant in Sosnovy Bor, near the city of St. Petersburg, Russian media reported on Wednesday. ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The object was monitored by the Russian military, the state news agency Tass reported.
The unknown object was “moving at wind speed,” Tass reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed security source. “This means it has no engines, so it is not a drone, it is not an aircraft,” the source continued, adding that there was “no reason” for the warning signal.
However, “our air defense system is fully ready for action if necessary,” the source was quoted as saying by state media.
Tass then quoted a Russian regional official as dismissing the reports.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment.
In late February, Russian authorities temporarily closed the airspace above St. Petersburg after unconfirmed reports of an unidentified object circulated. All flights were briefly suspended from Pulkovo, the city’s main airport, as seen in the video below:
An unidentified aerial object was also reported in the skies above Russia’s Rostov Oblast in early January, according to local authorities. The area’s regional governor, Vasily Golubev, said authorities had made the decision to “liquidate” it.
Air defense systems were alerted to a “small object in the shape of a ball” flying at an altitude of one and a half miles, Golubev said in a Telegram post. It was located near the village of Sultan Sala and was flying “freely in the wind,” he added.
“The sky is covered by anti-aircraft defenses,” Golubev wrote, urging local community members to “remain calm.”
“To ensure security, all forces and resources are involved,” he continued.
Several sightings of unidentified objects have been reported since early 2023, including several in North American airspace. Source
