European civil aviation and media organizations faced a wave of coordinated bomb threats signed under the pseudonym Michaił Andropow.
Flights Diverted by Security Alerts
Emergency landings and military escorts affected commercial carriers and international routes.
The route is operated between Chopin Airport in Warsaw and Brussels Airport.
On November 3, 2026, a Boeing 737 MAX operated by the same Polish carrier performing flight LO286 from London Heathrow to Warsaw was diverted to Warsaw-Modlin Airport following a bomb threat report, with 181 individuals on board; the aircraft safely landed and passengers disembarked without any explosives being found during the inspection.
Information regarding a potentially dangerous item on board a LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to Paris reached services at Chopin Airport, according to Piotr Rudzki, acting communications office director and press spokesperson for Polskie Porty Lotnicze (PPL), who said standard security procedures were immediately implemented and normal operations resumed without disruption after checks found no threat.
Grzegorz Brychczyński, an aviation expert from the Association of Engineers and Technicians of Communication of the Republic of Poland, stated that this would not be the last incident of its kind, warning that electronic disruption of air traffic and unauthorized radio equipment could pose threats alongside bomb hoaxes.
An Aer Lingus Airbus A320 flying from Dublin to Rome altered its route toward the Evreux air base northwest of Paris following a bomb alert during flight, according to Agence France-Presse.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office confirmed that the 151 passengers and six crew members were safely evacuated while specialists searched the aircraft.
Additional incidents involved two aircraft experiencing bomb alerts—an Aegean Airlines machine from Thessaloniki and a Ryanair plane from Porto—safely landing at their destination at Milan-Malpensa Airport. Other threats on November 5 involved Wizz Air, Finnair, Aer Lingus, easyJet, Iberia, and Air Serbia.
Eurocontrol data indicated that 7 out of 26,278 flights were affected on November 3, and 14 out of 28,488 flights on November 5, representing less than a promil of daily European air traffic.
Media Headquarters Evacuated
On November 6, 2026, public broadcaster RTÉ evacuated its campus in Dublin after receiving a bomb threat, temporarily suspending live programming and switching to recorded broadcasts before resuming updates from a mobile transmission van, according to Natemat and Satkurier.
Broadcasters Newstalk and Today FM, alongside the offices of the Irish Independent, also evacuated their premises before safety inspections cleared the buildings.
British broadcaster Sky News analyzed the situation and notified relevant authorities, cooperating to ensure staff safety and uninterrupted station functioning after receiving a security warning. Bulgarian station Nova TV also received security warnings.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin stated that the objective was to sow fear and anxiety and urged the public to stay calm while broadcaster RTÉ resumed transmissions from mobile vans, while the Irish government characterized the warnings as part of a coordinated campaign to cause panic and disruption.
Officials Assess Hybrid Threats
Intelligence and security services analyzed the form and content of the messages, which carried the subject line Wiadomość dla Zachodu
(translated in some emails as New Challenge to the West
), mirroring the title of a biography of former KGB head and KPZR General Secretary Yuri Andropow, as detailed by Natemat.
The communications were signed by an individual identified as Michaił Andropow
.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares termed the series of incidents a hybrid aggression and a form of psychological warfare.
Adrian Furgalski, president of the TOR Economic Advisors Team, noted in an interview with PAP that while recent bomb alerts in Europe have not caused significant disruptions to the broader aviation network, they remain costly for individual carriers and passengers.
Who sent the messages and what further steps authorities will take remain unanswered questions.