MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Several suicide blasts hit the entrance, exit and a parking lot of the airport's international terminal at about 10 p.m. local time (19:00 GMT).
"President [Vladimir] Putin expressed his condolences to the Turkish people for the heinous act of terrorism. The Kremlin also considers this a terrorist attack on peaceful Istanbul. Such an event, of course, once again emphasized the urgency of consolidated efforts to combat the common threat of terrorism," Peskov told reporters.
Following the blasts, the Istanbul airport was totally evacuated and closed. Hundreds of flights were canceled. However, Yildirim, who attended the scene of events, said later that the airport had resumed its air traffic in a normal mode. Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot canceled flights to and from Istanbul's Ataturk international airport on Wednesday.
According to media reports, the majority of victims of the terrorist attack are Turkish nationals, though there are several foreigners. According to the Russian Embassy in Turkey, a Russian national was wounded in the blast. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that a Ukrainian national was killed in the attack and another one was injured.
