Irish public broadcaster RTE's campus in Dublin was evacuated on Friday (November 6) as newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria received emailed bomb threats from a purported "Mikhail Andropov," claiming responsibility for a widening wave of hoax threats disrupting passenger flights across Europe.

The messages, sent to Bulgaria's Nova TV and RTE were headlined "Message to the West" and portrayed the threats as the prelude to a series of attacks on means of transport across Europe. The British broadcaster Sky also said it had received a security threat.

Reuters was not able to establish the identity of the sender, the origin of the emails, or whether they had in fact come from the same source as the threats to any or all of the dozens of flights affected since Tuesday (November 3). No explosive devices have been found and all planes have landed safely.

Around half a dozen flights were disrupted in some way on Tuesday and more than two dozen on Thursday (November 5), some of them making unplanned landings or being escorted to their destinations by fighter jets.

While no country has attributed blame for the threats, they come after a wave of sabotage attacks and attempts on targets across Europe ranging from German electricity substations to defense-related facilities in the Baltic region, supermarket refrigerators in France and elsewhere and Leipzig airport in Germany.

Many officials have linked the campaign to Europe's support for Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces, accusing Moscow of a campaign of "hybrid" disruptions that are essentially cheap to execute, easy to deny and not expected to trigger an armed response. Moscow has strongly denied involvement.

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Video Shows

VIDEO SHOWS: PEOPLE STANDING OUTSIDE IRISH BROADCASTER, RTE, HEADQUATERS / DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE AND GARDA VEHICLES OUTSIDE / STATEMENT FROM IRISH GOVERNMENT

SHOWS: 1. (00:00:00:00) SLATE

DUBLIN, IRELAND (NOVEMBER 6 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

2. (00:00:05:00) PEOPLE STANDING NEAR RTE VAN

3. (00:00:14:19) PEOPLE STANDING NEAR RTE VAN, POLICE CAR PARKED NEARBY

4. (00:00:23:02) DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE VAN DRIVING NEAR RTE HEADQUARTERS

5. (00:00:31:08) POLICE CAR OUTSIDE RTE CAMPUS

INTERNET (NOVEMBER 6 2026) (GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND VIA X - Access all)

6. (00:00:40:00) STATEMENT FROM IRISH GOVERNMENT ON X READING (English):

"Government Statement on bomb threats to Irish media this morning

The threats made this morning against media organisations here are very serious.

The Gardaí were alerted to these threats and immediately took the precautionary actions that were necessary in co-operation with those who have been targeted.

It is important to emphasise that the first concern in incidents such as these must be the safety and security of the people who are affected.

Hoax threats such as these cause fear, distress and disruption to people going about their daily lives and activities; they achieve no positive purpose whatsoever.

It is not known yet who is responsible for these threats, whether it is individuals or a centralised or co-ordinated effort. However, these threats come on the heels of the ongoing disruption to aviation around Europe caused by similar threats, and it seems likely that this is a co-ordinated campaign of disruption."

7. (00:00:45:00) STATEMENT FROM IRISH GOVERNMENT ON X READING (English):

" The Gardaí, working in co-operation with the Defence Forces, and our cyber and aviation authorities, are working to establish who is responsible. The Gardaí and the Defence Forces are in ongoing liaison with their European security counterparts. Every effort will be made to identify those responsible and to hold them to account.

The main priority, however, is to ensure that people are kept safe, despite the unavoidable and unwelcome disruption that this may cause.

The Gardaí have been alive (Ed's note: could mean 'alert' instead of 'alive') to the risk of disruptive threats such as these in the context of planning for EU Presidency events and are exercising the relevant protocols in response."