Italy evacuates over 300 schools following mass bomb threats

More than 300 schools across Italy were evacuated on Wednesday after receiving bomb threats by email, prompting investigations by authorities. Similar threatening messages were reported at schools in Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland, though no evacuations were reported in those countries.

Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said 312 schools had been evacuated after receiving the emails. However, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said there was no indication of any concrete danger and that the threats appeared intended to generate alarm and concern.

An Absurd Signature and a Serious Strategy

The email received in Italy was signed Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan, according to a copy of the message seen by Reuters. The satirical title adopted by the sender combines terminology associated with Islam, including vilayat, an Arabic derived term meaning a province governed under Islamic rule and now commonly used to describe branches of ISIS, with the geographical suffix stan and the word misogyny, meaning hatred of women. A national security source told Reuters that sending the bomb alert messages was as easy as drinking a glass of water.

The same purported author claimed responsibility for email bomb threats sent on Friday to news organizations in Ireland and Bulgaria. According to copies obtained by Italian media, the anonymous email also reportedly threatened Meloni. Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the threats were part of a strategy that is already quite clear: an attempt to spread fear and create anxiety. It is not always the work of foreign countries or hostile entities, he added. There are also attention seekers and madmen who simply cannot wait to spread terror in a city or region.

Divergent Responses Across European Borders

Unlike Italy, authorities in Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, decided not to evacuate schools that received the bomb warning. The Northern Ireland Education Authority said schools had been advised to remain open because police did not consider the message credible. The message bears similarities to a malicious threat issued last month, which was declared a hoax by the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland), the authority said. Police Scotland also said the messages sent to schools in that country do not represent a credible threat and are being treated as hoaxes. Northern Ireland police said Wednesday afternoon that checks and information gathered during their investigation indicated that the threatening email sent to schools had originated outside the United Kingdom.

Antonello Giannelli, head of the Italian School Principals Association, said the alerts were upsetting for students, families and school staff. Parents shared that anxiety firsthand. My daughter Dafne started crying because the kids did not understand what was happening, and she was still shaken when I picked her up, said Nensi Bego, parent of a child at the Mazzini middle school in Rome. This is so annoying. It's obvious it's just a hoax that disrupts lessons and disrupts everyone's day.

The Broader Web of Hybrid Disruption

Wednesday's bomb threats came just days after Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani revealed on Saturday that his personal information had been leaked onto the dark web, the encrypted part of the internet used, among other things, by criminal organizations. Meloni blamed pro Russian hackers for the leak. The latest alerts come after bomb threats targeting dozens of flights across Europe last week, triggering diversions and disruption. No suspicious items were found and no injuries were reported.

Some European officials suspect Russia may be behind a campaign of disruption to everyday life in European nations supporting Ukraine after Moscow's invasion. Iran is another suspect. France summoned Iran's ambassador on Tuesday after accusing Tehran of a cyberattack that disabled refrigerators in hundreds of supermarkets last week. Last week, hackers raised the temperatures of refrigeration systems at supermarkets in Germany, Romania and the UK.

What Affected Readers Can Do Now

For families and educators caught in the crosshairs of these digital hoaxes, navigating the uncertainty requires relying on verified official channels rather than panic-driven messaging apps.

• Check official notifications issued directly by your local school administration or regional education authority before acting on unverified social media reports.
• Confirm whether local law enforcement or national police forces have officially classified the specific alert in your district as a non-credible hoax.
• Keep communication lines open with teachers and school supervisors who oversee safe assembly areas if an evacuation protocol is temporarily enforced out of an abundance of caution.
• Report any suspicious individual emails or external messages directly to school principals or national cybercrime reporting portals.

Meloni also called a meeting of ministers to discuss the situation.