Thousands of Schools Across Europe and Parts of UK Targeted by Coordinated Bomb Hoax Wave

POLICY WIRE — Rome, Italy — A massive wave of bomb threats has targeted approximately 6,300 schools in Italy, alongside more than 700 institutions across Scotland and Northern Ireland, according to regional government officials.

In Italy, several educational buildings were evacuated as a precautionary measure. However, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that investigations have yet yielded no evidence of any “concrete danger”.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Meloni suggested the messages are likely part of a calculated tactic designed to incite widespread panic and anxiety.

Scotland’s education secretary, Mairi McAllan, confirmed there is no danger to the public and noted that specialized cybercrime units are currently tracing the origin of the communications.

In Northern Ireland, education leaders advised schools to remain operational unless they receive specific instructions otherwise from law enforcement.

The connection between these various international incidents remains undetermined. McAllan expressed that in her roles as a parent and an MSP, she recognizes the significant distress this situation causes for staff, students, and family members.

While Police Scotland previously indicated that the warnings were identified as hoaxes upon immediate assessment, some local districts reported that evacuations had occurred.

Police Scotland issued guidance stating there is no necessity to clear schools or remove children from their classrooms based solely on the text found in the emails.

Italian officials noted that a single email was dispatched on Wednesday to 6,300 of the 7,476 state-run schools, while private institutions were reportedly not targeted.

The threatening message claimed to have originated from an individual identified as “Mikhail Andropov, leader of Vilayat di Misoginistan”, which sparked significant alarm across many campuses.

Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara characterized the events as likely a “cyber-attack, not a genuine risk”, pointing to a broader strategy across Europe involving false alarms also directed at hospitals, supermarkets, and air travel.

This follows a series of bomb hoaxes last week that affected European airports and various airlines, resulting in numerous evacuations and operational delays.

Although an extremist group with a misogynistic ideology claimed responsibility for some threats, the group later issued a denial regarding any involvement in the false school warnings.

Anna Bertato, a headteacher in Milan, informed local media on Wednesday that she researched the sender’s email address online and found it had already been flagged as spam by a university student in Taiwan.

Massimo Nunzio Barrella, another Milan headteacher, told Adnkronos he recognized the email as spam when it arrived at 08:59, leading him to keep his school open and reassure concerned parents.

Barrella described the content of the message as almost absurd, comparing it to a note from Martians claiming they had come to annihilate the recipients, noting he found it comical.

While many Italian schools were cleared early on Wednesday, the alerts were quickly retracted and students returned to their lessons. Though some parents chose to keep their children home, most schools in Milan did not dismiss students.

Reports from Italy indicate that roughly 280 headteachers had already received threatening communications in the days preceding Wednesday.

Stefania Proietti, head of the Umbria region, stated that checks performed in Umbrian schools have come back negative and that law enforcement is working diligently to verify every report.

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)