Russian pilots' union complains about use of Sheremetyevo airport for military purposes

A message has appeared on the website of the pilots' union at Sheremetyevo airport in Russia complaining about the use of civilian infrastructure for military purposes and the covert transport of explosives.

Source: Russian independent media outlet Verstka

Details: On 11 May, an Urgent Appeal was published on the union's website, purportedly on behalf of the organisation's council. The authors of the message said Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has "turned pilots into service staff", and was "humiliating them with endless inspections", and "forcing them to participate in the unlawful inspection of luggage and personal belongings".

The complaint called for an end to the "use of the airport's civilian infrastructure for military purposes". The message highlights the open transport and storage of particularly hazardous cargo, the deployment of weapons storage facilities and the covert use of passenger luggage "for the transport of explosive devices".

The message also referred to the crew that died aboard the aircraft used by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime associate of Vladimir Putin killed in a plane crash, as "victims of a power struggle between security agencies".

By 12 May, the union's website had ceased to function, although the page containing the appeal is preserved in the web archive. Verstka found 13 critical comments beneath the message, while other posts on the website have almost no comments.

A phone call from the journalists was answered by a man who identified himself as Sergei Gromadin, who served as vice president of the organisation until 2022. He claimed that the document had been placed on the website by fraudsters.

"The website was fraudulently hacked using various personal devices belonging to union employees. The matter is therefore being handled by law enforcement," he said.

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