Russia is suspected of carrying out a series of hoax bomb threats that sparked flight chaos in Europe, with multiple passenger jets forced to make emergency landings at airports across the continent.
At least seven planes, including three from Britain, were targeted on Tuesday, raising fears of a co-ordinated sabotage attack that Vladimir Putin may be behind.
It comes amid concerns that the Kremlin leader has expanded his hybrid war against NATO, with refrigerators and freezers across seven European countries hit by a cyber-attack in recent days.
Russian troops are also showing signs of preparing for a potential new incursion, following Putin's warning last week that there would be 'no winners' if he entered a conflict with the West.
At least two flights to Warsaw, two to Sofia, two to Rome and one to Murcia airport in Spain were subjected to the threats on Tuesday, and another flight to Sofia had been threatened a day earlier.
A flight from London Heathrow to Warsaw's main Chopin airport was diverted to the nearby Modlin airport, which was closed and then reopened after the plane was searched and no device was found.
Another Warsaw-bound flight, a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen, landed at Chopin as scheduled. Police and bomb squads were there on arrival, who declared the plane safe.
Later on Tuesday, bomb disposal experts at Rome's Fiumicino airport searched two Ryanair planes - one originating from Lisbon and the other from Dublin - following anonymous tips regarding potential bomb threats. The Dublin flight was escorted by the Italian air force until it landed.
In Murcia in southeastern Spain, parts of an airport were cordoned off after reports of a 'written security threat' on a Ryanair flight from Manchester. The plane landed as scheduled in Spain
Bomb threats were made against planes traveling from Milan/Bergamo and Dublin to Sofia, Bulgaria.
Both landed safely and no explosive devices were found on inspection.
The Bergamo flight was operated by Wizz Air and was carrying 176 passengers, while the Dublin flight, operated by Ryanair, had 186 passengers on board.
In Murcia in southeastern Spain, parts of an airport were cordoned off after reports of a 'written security threat' on a Ryanair flight from Manchester. The plane landed as scheduled in Spain.
A passenger on the flight said she was unaware of the suspected bomb threat until after the plane landed.
'We weren't told anything during the flight,' Sarah told BBC 5 Live. 'The plane stopped quite suddenly and then we were kept on the runway for 30 minutes.
'Then the fire engines and bomb squad turned up and we were asked to evacuate.'
She described how the jet had not been on the ground for even a minute before it was 'surrounded by police and a bomb squad'.
The passengers were escorted away and made to walk from the runway to the airport, leaving their belongings on board.
'We were only later told that it was an actual threat, a bomb threat to the plane itself,' she added.
A day earlier, a Wizz Air flight from London to Sofia was diverted to Budapest airport after receiving a bomb threat.
All flights were determined to be false alarms.
An explosives detection dog and a diver searched the Panama-flagged Crown Iris cruise ship on the Greek island of Syros after an unknown person said an explosive device had been attached to the boat's hull.
While no country pointed fingers over the bomb threats, they come at a time when European officials have been blaming both Russia and Iran for what they describe as 'hybrid attacks' and acts of sabotage.
Moscow and Tehran both deny any such campaign.
This week, unidentified hackers shut down fridges in supermarkets in several European countries.
Some experts said hoax bomb threats could be part of a similar pattern of low-cost, deniable disruption efforts.
'From railways to the food infrastructure that you see happening with the fridges being hacked and all kinds of other operations, it does fit the narrative of Russian state actors who want to disturb Europe,' said Eric Schouten, the head of aviation security group Dyami.
Security and Intelligence expert Professor Anthony Glees said it was 'highly likely' that Putin was responsible.
He told GB News: 'There's a kinetic shadow war going on against us, but there's also a secret subversive war underway using disinformation - which is what hoaxes are.
'They spread mayhem and even panic. They test our resilience.
'Now is a very good time for Putin to challenge us…. We're not yet ready to fight seriously, so there's plenty of scope for Putin to wage a grey war against us.'
Defence expert and former Army Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Crawford said this week's bomb threats could be part of a 'coordinated sub-threshold attack' from Moscow.
'I suspect the European security services will have a fair inkling of what's going on,' he added, but said that more time was needed to identify Russia as the culprit formally.
A LOT Polish Airlines passenger flight departed London Heathrow Airport on Tuesday morning and headed for Warsaw Chopin Airport, but was diverted to Warsaw Modlin following the alert
Passengers in Murcia airport following the bomb threat on the Ryanair plane from Manchester
A police officer and a sniffer dog inspecting a Ryanair airplane and its baggage in Murcia, Spain
The Ryanair flight had 121 people on board, including crew, according to Francisco Lucas, the Spanish government's delegate in the Murcia region of Spain
A hacking attack on European supermarkets spread across the continent on Monday, hitting fridges and freezers from Sweden to Belgium and forcing stores to throw away food in an incident that echoed a similar attack in France last month.
The attack, which raised temperatures in refrigerator and freezer units at dozens of stores, hit supermarket groups Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt in Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as Swedish grocers ICA and Coop. Furniture-to-meatballs retailer IKEA also saw at least one store affected.
Approximately 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg were targeted, while a smaller number of shops were hit in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland.
'Everything is destroyed,' Engla Ingwall, sales manager at an ICA franchise store in Stockholm, told Reuters during a visit to the store on Monday, adding the attack occurred at 2am but was only noticed hours later.
'There has been a cyberattack and all our freezers reached 50 degrees (Celsius).'
A spokesperson for privately held ICA said the company was aware that a 'limited number of stores were affected by an incident overnight, which impacted their refrigeration and freezer systems'.
The latest incidents follow an attack in France last month when police said hackers seized control of cooling units at hundreds of supermarkets, causing fires and food losses. Ahold also reported a cybersecurity incident to police last month.
Moscow has repeatedly denied involvement in any sabotage or hybrid warfare operations.
However, the continent is on edge as Putin recently warned he is prepared for a major war.
'Many people keep talking about preparing for war by 2030. Is that right or wrong?' Putin said at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
'First of all, we are ready, but we don't want any war with Europe. As for them, if anyone wants it, let them prepare.'
Western intelligence officials have also warned that the Russian tyrant has an 'appetite' to increase his European sabotage campaign, in a move sources fear could lead to a war by 2030.
European leaders are taking action against increasing threats, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying Tuesday that he sent armed forces to the Russian border amid fears of an armed incursion.
He said Poland foiled a potential 'provocation' on Monday night on its border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, noting that he was informed just after midnight of suspicious activity on Poland's northern border.
'We very quickly mobilised the necessary security forces and means on site, and we successfully prevented any attempted acts of provocation, if that was the intention. Of course, we will never be able to completely confirm that,' Tusk said.
He added that the incident followed weeks of warnings from Polish and allied intelligence that 'acts of diversion or more serious provocation' could target the European Union and NATO borders with Russia, including 'the intrusion of armed individuals into Polish territory'.
Tusk warned that Poland could face a prolonged 'escalation from the Russian side', and called for heightened vigilance against sabotage operations or other threats.
Poland, which sits on the eastern flank of the EU and NATO, has repeatedly accused Russia of 'sabotage' since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In September, Tusk warned that Russia's war plans included 'hybrid' attacks with drones and missiles against Kyiv's allies.
Meanwhile, a sabotage network was uncovered in Romania, whose members were acting on behalf of Russian intelligence agencies and preparing attacks on defence industry facilities in the EU.
The Romanian Intelligence Service identified a group involved in an attempted arson attack on the Carfil arms manufacturing plant in Brașov.
The investigation established that three citizens of post-Soviet states, legally residing in EU countries, were involved in preparing the sabotage operation.
The activities of the uncovered network were not limited to Romania, according to the intelligence agency.
Russian handlers had identified several potential targets across the region, including state-owned and private defence industry enterprises, as well as other facilities linked to the military.
It comes as US-brokered talks between Kyiv and Moscow are set to take place in Abu Dhabi next week.
The dates of the latest round of talks - the first since February - were announced hours after multiple Russian strikes hit an aid distribution point in the southeastern Ukrainian village of Komyshuvakha, killing at least 33 people.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had so far seen no sign that Russia was willing to engage seriously in talks aimed at ending the war.
'It is important that Russia finally and seriously engages in negotiations about a ceasefire and a subsequent peace agreement,' Merz said alongside Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin, when asked about the US-brokered trilateral talks.
'I do not see that happening so far.'
Source link
