Mass bomb hoax sparks school evacuations across Europe
Thousands of schools across the UK, Italy and Ireland received bomb threats on Wednesday, prompting evacuations and widespread disruption.
The threats forced evacuations at more than 300 schools in Northern Ireland and at least 470 in Scotland, according to police. Authorities determined the messages were hoaxes, though they originated from outside the UK.
The scale of disruption was even greater in Italy, where over 6,300 schools received bomb threats. Evacuations and lockdowns were reported in several regions, including the northern Emilia-Romagna area.
Origin of threats
Investigations traced some of the threatening emails to a compromised account at Dayeh University, a private institution in Taiwan. The messages were signed "Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan" and included a threat against Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
We won't let an anonymous email decide our children's school calendar.
International speculation
Some European officials suspect Russia may be behind the bomb threats, citing the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Moscow has consistently dismissed such allegations as baseless smear campaigns.
Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected accusations of Russian involvement in a cyberattack on French supermarket refrigeration systems, calling such claims "absurd." France later blamed Iran for that attack, which Tehran denied.
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