Ready to Overcome Any and All Obstacles to Achieve the Most Important Goal: Safety

Every day, specialists from city services carry out a range of complex tasks to help citizens and to keep the city alive and well. There's no doubt that their work is vital to the city, but we still know very little about them. For our 'People of the City' section, we have asked these professionals to tell us about their unique experiences and interesting stories from the job.

Learn more about how employees at Vnukovo International Airport spend their days and about the unusual situations they've encountered in their work.

Igor Galushkin works to ensure the security of Vnukovo airport and its facilities and equipment — including aircraft.

He inspects carry-on and checked baggage, mail, and cargo to make sure that no explosives, highly flammable or toxic materials are brought on board a plane.

Igor trained at the Moscow City K9 Service Club. Since then, he's been awarded numerous commendations, diplomas, letters of gratitude, and medals, including a medal for the Revival of K9 Training in Russia.

He's been working at Vnukovo Airport since 2019. He recalls how, 'One spring day we were notified that explosives had been detected on an aircraft. The K9 units moved in to inspect it immediately. After giving out assignments to my people, I took my dog Greta, and we headed to the cargo compartment of the aircraft to search through the luggage. As we were walking past a bag, Greta indicated that there was explosive material inside it. We decided to put the bag through an introscope, but we failed to find any explosive material or explosive devices in it. In the end, we had to call the bag's owner in order to open and inspect it. Inside were personal effects, some medication wrapped up in a piece of paper, and some clay figures with magnets. At first, it seemed like the dog had made a mistake. But the thing is, it's possible to make explosive materials from medications, acetone, and other components. In the end, we determined that Greta had reacted to the mixed scent of acetone coming from the clay figures and the smell of some of the medications. It was a false alarm, but in our line of work, it's better to be safe than sorry!'

Igor's job can be quite challenging at times. He needs to remain focused and composed, but he's a true professional who's ready to overcome any and all obstacles to achieve the most important goal: the safety of staff and passengers at the airport.