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The warnings keep coming, targeting different airlines or airports one after another.
With the notable exception of London's Heathrow Airport, in almost every other case the threat was deemed credible enough that authorities decided to divert the flight involved. In the case of Italy, fighter jets were even dispatched to accompany and escort the aircraft.
These threats later turned out to be false. But of course that doesn’t mean the next alarm will be false.
It is not surprising that the simultaneous and coordinated nature of these aviation hoax threats, combined with other recent incidents of vandalism in Europe, has led many to cast suspicion on Russia.
After a series of cyberattacks and unidentified drone sightings of sensitive facilities earlier this year, the past few days have seen remote hacking of supermarket refrigeration equipment, attacks on blood bank systems, suspicious incidents on the Polish-Russian border, and a drone attack on Germany's Leipzig Halle Airport in August, when Germany's interior minister publicly blamed Moscow.
So, is Russia behind this?
Many believe that, although there is only circumstantial evidence, this is likely yet another case of "hybrid warfare," "gray zone warfare," or "sub-threshold warfare."
Such actions are aimed at damaging a country's infrastructure or social operations. They are usually carried out anonymously, making it easy to deny responsibility. They do not trigger Article 5 of NATO and therefore cannot directly trigger a collective response from Western countries.
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Moscow is indeed angry about NATO's support for Ukraine because the aid thwarts the Kremlin's plans to annex the country and effectively end its independence.
Some Russian bloggers even said that since Ukrainian drones have made Russian airports unsafe and Western sanctions prevent Russian airlines from using European airspace, why shouldn't Western countries feel the same pain?
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However, as of Thursday (November 5) evening, there was still no conclusive evidence that these false threats were related to Russia, Iran, or proxy organizations controlled by them.
One of the clues was a threatening email received by Rome airport authorities on Thursday morning from a person claiming to be "Fighters of the Male State."
The name most likely refers to the Russian group Muzhskoi Legion, also known as the Male Legion. This is a far-right organization that was banned by a Moscow court in 2021 for its extremist views.
However, the group still maintains tens of thousands of followers on Telegram and publicly expressed support after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine the following year.
However, even if the email sent to Rome was indeed written by this organization, who can guarantee that other groups are not acting under this name?
Therefore, this email may not provide the clues that the police and airport authorities really need to find out who is making these false threats and what are the motives behind them.
For police, airport authorities and transportation authorities in various countries trying to identify the perpetrators and assess how to reduce the impact of similar incidents in the future, the key is not to identify the suspects they think are the most likely suspects, but to pursue cold but reliable evidence clues--provided they can find them.
European airlines and airports hit with false bomb threat for second time in a week
At least 21 passenger planes and multiple airports in Europe have been subject to bomb threats. This is the second such incident in a week. The British government described the threats as "malicious mischief".
Flights to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland and Romania are affected.
An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was forced to divert to a French air base, while Italy dispatched fighter jets to escort a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome.
EasyJet said its flights from Newcastle and Glasgow to Prague were attended by police on arrival as a precautionary measure. On the other hand, threats to London's Heathrow and Birmingham airports were assessed as not credible.
Searches at various locations did not turn up any explosives, and it is unclear whether the incidents are related to each other. Some threats are claimed by a lesser-known group.
Rome airport authorities said the false threat against two flights to Rome on Thursday was sent via email.
The sender calls himself "Fighters of the Male State" and claims that his goal is a "feminist regime" and hopes to "leave a mark on history."
They even threatened to "dye the sky red" through explosions.
These contents were first disclosed by Italian media and later confirmed to the BBC by Aeroporti di Roma, the company that manages Rome's two airports.
Threatened flights on Thursday
This article was originally written in English. We used artificial intelligence to assist in translation and was reviewed by BBC journalists before publication. Learn more about how we use artificial intelligence.
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