Unusual activity over Russia: possible evacuation drill?

Something quite unusual is observed today east of Moscow.
A total of 15 Russian Air Force aircraft, including Ilyushin Il-76MD, Il-62MK, Il-96-400VVIP, Tupolev Tu-214PU, and Antonov An-148, took off almost simultaneously from the Moscow area (around 09:00 UTC), heading east toward Nizhny Novgorod.

After about half an hour of flight, all the aircraft are turning back toward Moscow, suggesting a coordinated training mission.
Given the type of aircraft involved — usually employed for VIP transport or strategic cargo operations — this activity could be related to an evacuation or command relocation exercise in case of conflict.

Such synchronized flights involving so many VIP and transport aircraft are extremely rare, even for the Russian Air Force.