OMM Newsroom
A wave of bomb threats targeting airlines and airports across Europe prompted aircraft diversions and, in Italy, the scrambling of fighter jets to escort a plane. The warnings were found to be false, although that does not rule out the possibility that a future threat could be genuine.
The coordinated nature of the threats, alongside other malicious incidents across Europe, has led some to suspect Russia, according to the BBC.
Earlier this year, Europe saw a series of cyber-attacks and unexplained drone sightings over sensitive sites. In recent days, supermarket freezers and a blood bank were remotely hacked, and a suspicious incident occurred on Poland’s border with Russia. In August, a drone attack at Germany’s Leipzig Halle Airport was publicly blamed on Moscow by the country’s interior minister.
Some observers have described the airline hoaxes as possible “hybrid”, “grey zone” or “sub-threshold” warfare. Such actions can damage a country’s infrastructure or society while remaining anonymous and deniable, and may fall short of triggering Article 5 of NATO’s treaty and a response by the West.
Moscow is angry with NATO for supporting Ukraine, which has frustrated the Kremlin’s plans to take control of the country and end its independence. Russian bloggers have also argued that Western countries should feel the impact of Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian airports and sanctions that bar Russian airlines from European airspace.
However, by Thursday evening, no hard evidence had emerged connecting the threats to Russia, Iran or proxy groups controlled by either country.
On Thursday morning, airport authorities in Rome received an email threat that purported to come from “Fighters of the Male State”. The name is likely a reference to Muzhskoi Legion, or “Male Legion”, a Russian ultra-right group banned by a Moscow court in 2021 because of its extreme views.
The group retained tens of thousands of followers on Telegram and supported Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine the following year. Even if the Rome email is genuine, it remains unclear whether it was sent by the group or by someone using its name, and it may not give police and airport authorities the leads needed to identify those behind the hoaxes or their motives.
Police forces, airport authorities and transport ministries are seeking to establish who is responsible and how to limit the impact if the threats recur. Their task is to follow verifiable leads rather than simply focus on those they consider the most likely suspects.
