Television stations across Europe were evacuated Friday after receiving a series of bomb threats warning that “the clock is ticking.”
Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE, Britain’s Sky News and Bulgaria’s Nova TV were among the targeted outlets.
No explosives were ultimately discovered.
The threatening emails claimed that an explosive device had been planted inside the relevant buildings and would detonate within 45 minutes.
“We want the whole world to know about us, which is why one of our operatives has planted an explosive device in your building,” one message read.
“It will detonate in 45 minutes. The clock is ticking.”
Bomb threats warning ‘the clock is ticking’ disrupt TV channels across Europe https://t.co/EHflokO840
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 6, 2026
Dublin-based RTE was forced to suspend normal programming for several hours while police conducted an extensive search of its Dublin headquarters.
Employees were eventually permitted to return after the building was declared safe.
Nova’s newsroom in Sofia was similarly evacuated and searched, although its broadcasts remained on air.
The threats come after a wave of apparent hoax bomb warnings targeting passenger flights across Europe in recent days.
This has resulted in diversions, emergency landings and security operations. Authorities have so far reported finding no explosives.
🇪🇺 #Italian, #French and #Bulgarian fighter jets scrambled Thursday as about 20 commercial flights were hit by a third day of hoax bomb alerts across #Europe.
No claim of responsibility was made for all the flights, but threats against flights sent to airports in Rome and Sofia… pic.twitter.com/wcF4UpqxUJ
— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) November 6, 2026
Friday’s emails were reportedly signed by someone calling himself “Mikhail Andropov,” who claimed to be a leader of the group responsible for the earlier aviation threats.
“But this is only the beginning,” the message warned. “What happened this week is just a small part of what awaits Europe in the near future.”
The emails were titled “MESSAGE TO THE WEST.”
The Andropov surname is shared by Yuri Andropov, the former Soviet leader, while the wording also resembles the title of a biography about him.
However, there is currently no evidence establishing Russian responsibility, and authorities have not identified who is behind them.
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Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said authorities are still trying to establish whether the incidents were the work of individuals or part of a coordinated campaign.
“It just illustrates how relatively simple it can be to cause disruption and to undermine the normal operation of society through unconventional activities of this kind,” Martin said.
Investigations into the source of the threats remain ongoing.
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