Emailed bomb threats targeted broadcasters after disrupting dozens of flights across Europe. The unattributed campaign has intensified official concerns about hybrid warfare and psychological disruption.No explosives were found, and the aircraft affected by the latest warnings landed safely.
A wave of bomb threats that has already disrupted dozens of flights across Europe has now reached another target: newsrooms. Broadcasters in Ireland, Bulgaria and the UK received emailed threats on Friday, with one message warning that attacks on transport across Europe were only beginning.
The threats triggered evacuations and security checks, adding to fears that the disruption could be part of a wider campaign aimed at creating panic and chaos.The identity of the people behind the emails remains unclear. It was not immediately clear who sent the messages, where they originated or whether the same person or group was responsible for the threats that disrupted flights earlier this week.But the pattern has caught the attention of European officials, who are increasingly examining whether the incidents could be part of what they call "hybrid" warfare -- disruptive operations designed to unsettle countries without crossing the threshold of conventional war.THE THREATS MOVE FROM AIRPORTS TO NEWSROOMSOn Friday, Bulgaria's Nova TV and Ireland's public broadcaster RTE received emails claiming responsibility for the wider wave of threats.
The messages were headlined "Message to the West" and claimed that attacks on different forms of transport across Europe were coming. RTE evacuated its offices and suspended programming after receiving the threat.
Britain's Sky also said it had received a security threat.The emails were attributed to a person using the name "Mikhail Andropov", but there was no independent confirmation that this was the sender's real identity. The threats came after several days of disruption at European airports.
The latest warnings affected at least 18 flights to or from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania and the UK.A threat was also reported at Copenhagen airport. Danish police investigated it, but airport authorities said operations continued normally.
The message reportedly sent to European media outlets warned of further attacks on transport."This is only the beginning," it reportedly said.DOZENS OF FLIGHTS CAUGHT IN THE CHAOSThe threats have varied in their impact.Some flights were searched or diverted. Others were escorted by military aircraft.
In several cases, passengers were left facing delays and uncertainty as authorities treated the warnings as genuine until checks were completed. Around six flights were disrupted on Tuesday.
By Thursday, more than two dozen had been affected.Across Tuesday and Thursday, at least 35 flights were diverted or searched, according to the latest figures cited in the reports.Friday brought another wave of warnings, affecting at least 18 flights. At least nine flights to and from Prague were affected, along with four flights over France, two flights heading towards Sofia and a Lisbon-to-Rome service.An Italian airport authority source said a Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome was diverted to Venice.
Despite the number of threats, however, the overall disruption to air travel was much smaller on Friday.No explosive devices were found.FIGHTER JETS ESCORT CIVILIAN AIRLINERSThe situation has also drawn a military response. Hungarian fighter jets escorted civilian aircraft flying from Brussels to Sofia and from Prague to Bucharest and Cyprus through Hungarian airspace.Hungary's Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said fighter jets had been scrambled three times and that NATO had ordered air patrols in the region.That was significant because it marked the first reported involvement of the Western military alliance in response to the latest wave of threats.WHY ARE EUROPEAN OFFICIALS WORRIED?The biggest unanswered question is who is behind the campaign.
European officials have not publicly attributed the bomb threats to any government or organisation. Reuters also could not independently establish who sent the emails.But the incidents have emerged against a much broader backdrop of suspected sabotage and disruption across Europe.
European countries supporting Ukraine have increasingly warned about so-called hybrid operations -- actions that can disrupt infrastructure, spread fear or interfere with public life without involving conventional military attacks.The suspected targets have ranged from electricity infrastructure and defence-related facilities to airports, computer systems and other civilian services.Germany has directly blamed Russia for a drone attack on Leipzig airport. Russia has denied involvement in the broader campaign.Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Europe appeared to be facing "hybrid aggression and a form of psychological warfare".
The concern is that such operations do not necessarily need to cause physical destruction to achieve their objective.A false bomb threat can be enough to force an aircraft to divert, trigger an evacuation, tie up emergency services and unsettle thousands of passengers.Repeated often enough, the disruption can become a form of pressure in itself.'WE ARE UNDER ATTACK ALL THE TIME'European officials say the threat extends beyond airports.EU technology commissioner Henna Virkkunen told Reuters that Europe had faced a range of hybrid operations since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.She pointed to alleged sabotage of critical infrastructure, drone incursions, cyber breaches and attempts to interfere with elections."We are under attack all the time," she said."The reason behind these operations is to destabilise our societies and create mistrust among our citizens."Virkkunen cautioned against automatically blaming Russia for every incident."It's not always Russia who is behind different hybrid operations," she said, adding: "Quite often it is Russia."That distinction matters because the current bomb threats remain officially unattributed.Security experts have offered several possible explanations. The threats could be intended to punish European countries for supporting Ukraine.
They could also be the work of individuals, copycats or people pursuing unrelated personal grievances.ANOTHER FALSE TRAIL?The uncertainty has been reinforced by one of the threats sent to airports in Italy.On Thursday, an Italian airport source told Reuters bomb threats had been sent to airlines and airport operators in Rome and Milan. The emails claimed to come from "fighters of the Male State", a far-right, anti-feminist movement banned in Russia.But the group's founder, Vladislav Pozdnyakov, rejected any connection.Pozdnyakov, a Russian blogger who founded Male State in 2016, said the organisation no longer existed and had nothing to do with the threats.- EndsWith inputs from agencies