In brief: At least 30 flights were hit by bomb hoaxes across Europe on Thursday after similar incidents on Tuesday affected seven flights and a cruise ship. While the perpetrator remains unclear, experts suggest they fit the modus operandi of state actors, as Europe warns of heightened hybrid threats from adversaries. One email was reportedly signed off by an anti-feminist group in Russia, but its founder denied any involvement.
Dozens of passenger flights and airports in Europe were hit by bomb hoaxes on Thursday.
Reuters reported on Thursday that at least 30 flights were affected, after at least seven flights and a cruise ship received similar threats on Tuesday.
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The threats affected flights all across Europe, affecting airlines such as Aer Lingus, Wizz Air, LOT, Finnair, EasyJet, Iberia, and KLM.
Reuters, citing an unnamed source at an Italian airport, said multiple addresses received an email signed off by “fighters of the Male State,” warning of bombs on inbound flights from Finnish capital Helsinki and Irish capital Dublin.
“Today your sky will be red,” the email reportedly says.
The email, titled “Threat report,” was reportedly sent to multiple airlines, airport operators, and airport service providers at Rome’s Fiumicino and Milan’s Malpensa airports.
Male State resembles the name of an inactive anti-feminist group in Russia that was subsequently banned, and the movement’s founder publicly denied any involvement.
“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,” Vladislav Pozdnyakov, the movement’s founder, wrote on Telegram.
Reuters said it could not verify the email’s real sender.
Europe warns of hybrid threats
The hoaxes follow warnings from Europe of escalating hybrid attacks from adversaries, including Russia, and come after another cyberattack on commercial fridges that spoiled millions of euros worth of food weeks earlier.
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Security experts told Reuters that the latest hoaxes could’ve come from individuals or state actors, but it’s difficult to determine at this stage.
“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, head of aviation security group Dyami, told the outlet.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski warned in late October that Russian hybrid attacks – including planned assassinations – are surging, and that Europe lacks plans to adopt and retaliate.
“We’ve had assassinations in Poland, Great Britain, Germany, and elsewhere. We’ve had arsons. We’ve had the attempted blowing up of a train,” he said. “We’ve had armed drones traversing Lithuania and being used at Leipzig airport.”
Weeks earlier, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Warsaw expects “some form of escalation” in Russian hybrid threats before Dec. 24, after Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR) warned of surging Russian sabotage targeting European military facilities and critical infrastructure and communications systems.
On Sept. 24, Denmark’s Defense Intelligence Service (DDIS) warned of intensifying Russian hybrid threats, which it said could range from sabotage and destructive cyberattacks against critical infrastructure to disinformation, covert recruitment, and deniable attacks against companies or transport routes supporting Ukraine.
The agency also warned of a “low but growing risk” of a limited arms confrontation with NATO on the border.
No group has claimed responsibility for the latest hoaxes as of Friday morning.
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