Europe Hit by Wave of Bomb Hoaxes Targeting Media, Flights

A coordinated wave of false bomb threats targeted newsrooms and dozens of commercial passenger flights across several European nations on Friday, Nov. 6, prompting military fighter jet scrambles, flight diversions, and building evacuations, European authorities and news agencies reported.

Accodring to Reuters, emailed threats titled “A Message to the West” and sent under the pseudonym “Mikhail Andropov” were delivered to Irish national broadcaster RTE, Bulgarian television network Nova TV, and British broadcaster Sky News. RTE temporarily evacuated staff from its Dublin headquarters before authorities cleared the facility.

Simultaneously, false bomb alerts targeted passenger airliners and airports across the Czech Republic, France, Denmark, and Italy.

In the Czech Republic, police reported threats directed at nine passenger aircraft at Prague Airport, leading to the diversion of one inbound flight to Venice, while Hungarian air force fighter jets and NATO combat aircraft escorted multiple passenger airliners through regional airspace. All reported threats were subsequently confirmed to be hoaxes.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares characterized the coordinated wave of disruptions as an act of “hybrid aggression and a form of psychological warfare,” while the Irish government confirmed that the media alerts formed part of an organized cross-border campaign.

Who sent the threats and what were their demands?

European security authorities are investigating whether the synchronized disruptions are connected to Western military and humanitarian support for Ukraine.

The emails received by news outlets on Friday warned of catastrophic explosions unless European governments ceased assistance to Ukraine, though law enforcement agencies did not disclose specific operational details.

The incidents follow similar bomb hoaxes distributed earlier in the week. On Thursday, Nov. 5, dozens of airports and commercial carriers received threats signed under the banner of “Male State,” an inactive Russian extremist organization banned in Russia.

A Telegram channel affiliated with the movement’s founder, Vladislav Pozdnyakov, denied responsibility for the campaign, claiming the group dissolved years ago and that unknown actors were exploiting the name to stage cross-border provocations.

“Anyone currently orchestrating provocations within EU countries under the banner of this ‘brand’ is acting in their own self-interest – essentially flying someone else’s flag,” Pozdnyakov wrote on Telegram.

Disruption to European aviation

The Friday incidents mark the second major aviation disruption within 48 hours, following a wave of hoaxes on Thursday that disrupted at least 30 commercial passenger flights operated by Aer Lingus, Wizz Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Finnair, EasyJet, Iberia, and KLM.

French fighter jets intercepted an Aer Lingus flight traveling from Dublin to Rome on Thursday, escorting the airliner to a military air base after the pilot reportedly refused an initial military directive, according to the office of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

In Spain, national police reported receiving three separate emailed threats within 20 minutes targeting an Air Europa flight bound from Madrid to Paris alongside two inbound Iberia flights from Rome and Milan.

The Bulgarian Air Force escorted three commercial flights to emergency landings, while in Poland, an outbound LOT flight to Paris was halted on the tarmac in Warsaw, with passengers transferred to alternative aircraft. Italian airport authorities in Rome and Milan reported emails warning of explosive devices aboard flights arriving from Helsinki and Dublin.

Aviation security analysts noted that while proving sovereign state attribution remains complex, the format aligns with asymmetric interference tactics.

“When it comes to a situation like this or even other sabotage attacks, it’s really hard to prove there’s a certain country behind it. But it does fit in the modus operandi,” Eric Schouten, director of aviation security consultancy Dyami, told Reuters.

European governments respond to hybrid threats

The wave of bomb hoaxes unfolds amid persistent warnings from European intelligence agencies regarding an intensifying campaign of Russian hybrid operations across the continent.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski warned in late October that Russian hybrid warfare is expanding across the EU, pointing to arson attacks, attempted rail disruptions, and unauthorized drone activity near European critical transport nodes.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk similarly stated that Warsaw anticipates further escalations in hybrid threats before late December, following alerts from the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR) regarding covert sabotage plots aimed at European communications and military logistical infrastructure.

In September, Denmark’s Defense Intelligence Service (DDIS) published a strategic assessment warning that hybrid threats encompass not only cyberattacks and physical sabotage against energy systems, but also deniable provocations designed to strain civil infrastructure and transport corridors supporting Ukraine.