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At least 300 schools in Italy were evacuated after bomb-threat warnings, AnewZ reported. Similar messages were also circulated in Scotland and Ireland. Police said the threats were not credible.
The Italian government confirmed the school evacuations. Threats and cyberattacks targeting supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic control services and broadcasters have also been reported across Europe.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on social media that the threats posed no danger. She said police and other state agencies were monitoring the situation and that she would chair a meeting at government headquarters to assess developments and coordinate next steps.
Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara told La7 television that the threats were considered fake and that the number of affected schools could rise. One school in Rome told parents through a messaging app that all students had been moved to a safe place and were under teachers’ supervision.
A spokesperson for Rome police said Italian police had opened an investigation. An email obtained by Reuters said a message sent to Italian schools was signed by “Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Province of Misoginistan.” The same name appeared in letters claiming responsibility for bomb threats sent to media outlets in Ireland and Bulgaria last Friday.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told the Adnkronos news agency that the threats were “part of a strategy that is already clear enough: to spread fear and create panic.” He said such acts were not always the work of foreign countries or hostile forces, and could also be carried out by people seeking attention or “madmen waiting for an opportunity to spread terror in a city or region.”
Warnings sent to schools in Northern Ireland, Ireland and Scotland
Northern Ireland police said threatening emails had been sent to more than 300 schools. Police said the messages were hoax threats sent from outside the United Kingdom.
Deputy Chief Constable Anthony McNally said police understood the concerns among schools, pupils and parents and took such incidents very seriously. The Education Authority advised schools to remain open after police said the threats were not credible.
In the Republic of Ireland, police said they were aware of a “generic message” sent to several schools and that the threat was not credible, with no need for evacuations. Police noted an increase in fake and unserious bomb threats and urged anyone who received a suspicious message to contact them.
Police in Scotland also assessed the emails quickly and concluded they were hoaxes. The force said its investigation had found nothing to suggest the messages posed a credible threat or that there was a wider threat to the public.
Possible “hybrid” campaign in Europe raises concern
The threats against schools have heightened European officials’ concerns about a possible “hybrid” disruption campaign targeting countries that support Ukraine. Several European countries have alleged Russian involvement in such activities; Moscow denies the accusations.
In a separate case, France summoned Iran’s ambassador this week, alleging that Tehran carried out a cyberattack that disabled refrigerators in hundreds of supermarkets. Iran’s Foreign Ministry described claims that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible as “unfounded and hostile.”
