Russian extremist group denies sending hoax bomb threats

Passengers disembark an Aer Lingus flight in the middle of a runway

Image source, ReutersImage caption,

Passengers on this Aer Lingus flight to Rome were diverted to a military base in France after a bomb threat

BySarah RainsfordSouthern and Eastern Europe correspondent

Published4 minutes ago

The "Male State", an extremist misogynistic group named in this week's hoax bomb threats to Italian airports, has denied any link to the false warnings causing flight disruption across Europe.

The comments to the BBC came as reports of more bomb scares to airlines began appearing, including on a Ryanair flight from Rome to Lisbon and a Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome which was diverted to Venice.

Bomb threats were also reported to a number of high-profile Irish media organisations on Friday, prompting evacuations and a statement from the Irish government suggesting a "co-ordinated campaign of disruption".

Replying to the BBC Russian Service, an account on Telegram - one of several linked to the so-called "Male State" and its founder Vladislav Pozdnyakov - mocked any suggestion the group was involved in emailing the threats.

"What Male State? Where have you seen it? It hasn't existed for many years," the message on the channel reads. "If tomorrow they sign a [threat] letter, say, from Putin, will you then try to reach our president to ask your stupid question?"

Image caption,

The message claimed that "fighters" of the "Male State" had planted explosives on two incoming flights

The group was banned in Russia in 2021 and Pozdnyakov is now thought to live abroad. It has since renamed itself in some places as "Male Legion".

The initial hoax email, seen by the BBC, was sent on Thursday at 07:21 with the subject title: warning of a threat.

It was addressed to several offices and individuals at Aeroporti di Roma (ADR), the airport managing company in Rome, as well as accounts at the city's Fiumicino airport itself. The originating email address seems to be linked to the state health services in Bogota, Colombia.

It's not clear whether other countries' airports or airlines received the same or similar threat. At least one warning made on Friday appears to have come by phone, not email.

Written in word perfect Italian, the bizarre text sent to Rome on Thursday claimed that "fighters" of the "Male State" had planted explosives on two incoming flights in an attack on Italy's "feminist regime" that would be "remembered forever".

One flight was diverted as a result - ordered to land in France – another was escorted into Rome by Italian air force jets, scrambled for the second time this week. No explosives were found on either plane, or any other that reported receiving bomb threats.

Asked why this particular email was taken so seriously, a source at ADR in Rome told the BBC that such warnings were extremely unusual. They didn't remember anything similar in recent years.

Despite the Russian group's denial, Italy's La Stampa newspaper appears in no doubt that "Male State" was behind the threats, asking in an article whether it is acting as "the regime's armed wing".

"Attacking, and being able to deny the attacks...is part of the Russian game plan," the paper writes, external.

One Telegram channel linked to Pozdnyakov is mainly filled with virulently pro-Russian messaging about the war on Ukraine and other posts highlighting problems and tensions in Europe, including recent youth protests.

The online investigation team at Bellingcat, who studied the group back in 2022, called it then a "vocal and vile online booster" of the Russian invasion, with a clear extremist far-right ideology.

As the Europe-wide hunt continues for who is behind the spate of hoax mails, and whether they are being co-ordinated - or could be the work of copycats - Italy's defence minister has warned of a "strategy to increase chaos".

Guido Crosetto noted that he had been talking of the "hybrid threat" to Europe for some years.

"It seems to me that, day after day, from incidents involving refrigerators to the blood supply in France and now these false alarms, there are those who have an interest in fuelling tensions," the minister said on Thursday, referring to a spate of recent cyber attacks that boosted supermarket fridge temperatures, destroying mountains of produce.

"Our interest is to do the opposite and ensure the country's security," Crosetto said.

Additional reporting by Davide Ghiglione