At least 21 aircraft and several airports across Europe have been targeted by bomb threats for the second time this week. British authorities condemned the incidents, describing them as extremely dangerous malicious hoaxes.
The threats affected flights bound for Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland and Romania, forcing several aircraft to divert or flights to be cancelled.
However, no explosives had been found aboard the aircraft or at the locations concerned at the time of reporting, and it remained unclear whether the threats were genuine. Airport authorities in several European cities received threatening emails from an individual or group calling itself “Fighters of the Male State,” claiming that it would turn the skies red.
The name “Fighters of the Male State” is believed to refer to the Russian extremist group Male State. The group holds extremist views and was designated extremist and banned by the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court in 2021. Nevertheless, it has retained tens of thousands of supporters online and has openly supported Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
By Rithy.
