Hoax bomb threats hit Italian airports and flights across Europe; named group denies link

The extremist group Male State, named in this week's hoax bomb threats to Italian airports, has denied any link to the false warnings, the BBC reported.

The threats have disrupted air travel in several countries. A Ryanair flight from Rome to Lisbon reported a bomb scare, and a Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome was diverted to Venice after a bomb scare. According to Reuters, a bomb alert diverted an Airbus A320 flying from Dublin to Rome, and hoax threats disrupted dozens of passenger flights across Europe.

The Rome threat began with an email. The first hoax email seen by the BBC was sent on Thursday at 07:21 and was addressed to offices at Aeroporti di Roma and Fiumicino airport. Its text claimed that Male State fighters had planted explosives on two incoming flights. One threatened flight was ordered to land in France, and another was escorted into Rome by Italian air force jets. No explosives were found on the planes that reported receiving threats.

The email address used for the Rome threat appears to be linked to state health services in Bogota, Colombia, according to the BBC. The BBC also reported that at least one warning made on Friday appears to have come by phone rather than email.

On Friday, bomb threats were reported to a number of Irish media organisations, prompting evacuations. The Irish government described the threats as suggesting a "co-ordinated campaign of disruption." Britain's transport minister described the threats affecting European flights as a "malicious hoax," and CNN reported that flights in Europe had been hit by such threats for a second time in a week.

Italy's defence minister, Guido Crosetto, warned of a "strategy to increase chaos" and referred to a "hybrid threat" to Europe, a term for hostile tactics that fall short of open military conflict.

Male State is described by the BBC as an extremist misogynistic group. The group was banned in Russia in 2021. Its founder, Vladislav Pozdnyakov, is thought to live abroad, and the group has renamed itself in some places as "Male Legion."

Investigators have not publicly linked the Rome email to any individual.