European TV networks receive bomb threat emails from ‘Mikhail Andropov,’ a name echoing the late Soviet leader

Several European television broadcasters received bomb threats by email on November 6, Reuters reported.The recipients included Irish broadcaster RTE, Britain’s Sky, and Bulgaria’s Nova TV. Searches of their offices found no bombs.The hoax forced RTE to air music and prerecorded messages for three hours. Nova TV’s newsroom was evacuated.It is unclear who was behind the threats. RTE and Nova received emails signed by someone calling himself Mikhail Andropov (likely a reference to Yuri Andropov, a general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party). The sender said he was also behind the bomb threats airlines received last week.“We want the whole world to know about us, which is why one of our operatives has planted an explosive device in your building. It will detonate in 45 minutes. The clock is ticking. But this is only the beginning. What happened this week is just a small part of what awaits Europe in the near future,” the threatening email sent to the broadcasters said, as quoted by Reuters. Its subject line was “MESSAGE TO THE WEST.”The broadcasters received the hoax bomb threats shortly after similar threats targeting European flights prompted emergency landings and additional security checks at airports. No explosive devices were found.European authorities have not said who they believe was responsible for the hoax bomb threats. The Italian news agency ANSA reported that the threats were sent under the name “Fighters of Men’s State.” Vladislav Pozdnyakov, the founder of the Russian movement Men’s State, said he had no involvement in the bomb threats targeting flights in Europe and that the movement itself had not existed since 2021.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.