More than 6000 schools across Italy received bomb threats and over 300 plus were evacuated on Wednesday after receiving identical bomb threat emails warning of a “genocide against the Italians”, triggering security sweeps and disrupting classes across the country.
asserted
schools → receive → country
The threats were sent to educational institutions in several regions, from Rome to Friuli in the north and Basilicata in the south.
asserted
threats → send → south
Students and staff were moved to safe areas while police searched school premises for explosives.
asserted
police → move → explosives
The email was signed by a sender identifying himself as “Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan”, according to a government source familiar with the matter.
uncertain
email → sign → matter
It claimed that a powerful explosive device with a remote detonator had been placed inside a school building and threatened to kill Italians in a mass attack.
asserted
device → claim → attack
The message also claimed that a bomb had been planted in the engine of prime minister Giorgia Meloni's car.
asserted
bomb → claim → car
Education minister Giuseppe Valditara told Italian broadcaster La7 that at least 300 schools had received the alerts, adding that the number could rise.
uncertain
number → tell → alerts
A school in Rome informed parents that all students had been moved to safety and were being supervised by teaching staff.
asserted
students → inform → staff
At a high school in Rome, students initially mistook the evacuation alarm for the recess bell and learnt about the threat only after leaving the building.
asserted
students → mistake → building
“They are saying it was a bomb alert because an email arrived from Russian hackers in which they said they would have killed everyone.
asserted
they → say → everyone
It was pretty violent,” 18-year-old student Anita Bartocci told AP reporters.
asserted
Bartocci → tell → reporters
Police are investigating the threats, a spokesperson for Rome police said.
asserted
spokesperson → investigate → police
The latest incident comes less than 10 days after a similar barrage of threatening emails reached more than 270 Italian schools on November 2, including institutions in Rome.
asserted
barrage → come → Rome
Those alerts also prompted evacuations and security checks, but turned out to be false.
asserted
alerts → prompt → evacuations
Similar threats reported abroad
Schools in Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland also received threatening messages, although no evacuations were reported in those countries.
Police in Northern Ireland said they were conducting “urgent inquiries” after an email was sent to hundreds of schools.
asserted
email → report → schools
Police Scotland said it was treating similar messages as hoaxes and had not advised schools to evacuate, adding that its assessment was that they did not represent a credible threat.
asserted
they → say → threat
Irish police said they were aware of a “generic communication” sent to several educational institutions.
asserted
they → say → institutions
The pseudonym Mikhail Andropov has appeared in other threatening emails sent in recent days to European television broadcasters.
asserted
pseudonym → appear → broadcasters
The sender has also reportedly claimed responsibility for threats targeting flights, although authorities have not established whether the incidents were connected.
uncertain
incidents → claim → flights
The school alerts come amid a wider pattern of disruption in Europe, including false threats against aircraft and cyberattacks on supermarket refrigeration systems.
asserted
alerts → come → systems
Recent attacks on cold-storage facilities have also affected blood banks in France, forcing staff to move blood supplies to alternative storage units.
asserted
attacks → affect → units
However, investigators have not established that the school threats, flight alerts and refrigeration attacks are connected or part of a coordinated campaign.
asserted
threats → establish → campaign
Do you believe the recent bomb threats to schools in Italy are genuine?
asserted
threats → believe → Italy
3k+ users shared opinion today
asserted
users → share → opinion
5k+ users already voted today
Share
asserted
users → vote → ?
OpinionItalian defence minister Guido Crosetto described the school threats as an attempt to spread fear and uncertainty.
asserted
Crosetto → describe → fear
He said law enforcement agencies were working to distinguish genuine dangers from threats made by people seeking to cause disruption, warning that such incidents could become increasingly frequent.
uncertain
incidents → say → disruption
The interior ministry has also stepped up its response.
asserted
ministry → step → response
Interior minister Matteo Piantedosi convened senior security officials on Tuesday to discuss the growing cyber threat.
asserted
Piantedosi → convene → threat
The meeting concluded that some attacks were aimed not simply at disrupting systems but at spreading unfounded alarm, destabilising institutions and damaging their credibility.
asserted
attacks → conclude → credibility
Former interior minister Marco Minniti called for a dedicated intelligence capability focused on cyber security, arguing that the threat required cooperation across political lines and should be treated as a matter of national security.
asserted
threat → call → security
The Aporia
