Major athletics championship suspended as athletes and followers evacuated over ‘assault’
Russian Athletics has confirmed that the Russian Athletics Championship at the Kalininets Stadium in Yekaterinburg had to be suspended over fears of a drone attack
The Russian Athletics Championship was suspended over fears of a drone attack(Image: @rusathletics/Instagram)
A major athletics championship was forced to be suspended this morning (July 25) after concerns were raised over a potential drone attack.
The Russian Athletics Championships at the Kalininets Stadium in Yekaterinburg were suddenly halted as the stadium announcer warned everyone in the stadium, including the athletes, to move underground.
Video footage of the announcement being made was shared by Russian Athletics as spectators could be seen quickly leaving the the stadium.
In a statement, Russian Athletics confirmed a decision had been made to temporarily suspend the games so athletes, spectators and coaching staff could all get to safety quickly.
The alert was for the city of Yekaterinburg, which host’s this years games (stock)(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Russian Athletics said: “Russian Championship temporarily suspended due to a drone attack.
“The safety of all participants — athletes, spectators, coaches, and officials — is our top priority. Further updates on the resumption of the competition will be announced shortly.”
In a later update, Russian Athletics announced that the competition, which runs from July 23 to 26, had resumed following the drone attack alert. It is believed that proceedings had been disrupted for over an hour.
The area was under alert after a drone crashed in the Chkalovsky District of the city and reportedly saw a car park set on fire. According to Russian publication RU-LIFE, it is believed Wildberries logistics complex was the target but was reportedly undamaged.
The Wildberries logistics facility also temporarily suspended operations and employees were evacuated, according to the publication.
Reports in Russia say the drone alert had been declared in five regions of the Ural Federal District, which the city of Yekaterinburg is the administrative centre, as Ukraine and Russia continue to wage war following Putin’s invasion in 2022.
The incident comes as a Russian drone strike killed three people in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region, local officials said, while Romania shot down a drone over its air space for the second time in two days.
Sumy regional head Oleh Hryhorov said on Saturday (July 25) that a large fire broke out when a drone struck a “civilian facility”, adding that the victims were drivers for private Ukrainian postal and courier service Nova Poshta.
In Zaporizhzhia in south-eastern Ukraine, a Russian drone attack on Friday night (July 24) hit a shopping centre, causing a fire that spread over a 500-square-metre area, causing several injuries, regional head Ivan Fedorov said.
A major Russian attack on Friday on a site near Kyiv that hosted a defence industry event killed at least 10 people and wounded nearly 100 others.
