Schools across Italy were evacuated on Wednesday after around 6,300 of them received bomb warnings, the latest in a series of threats and cyber attacks across Europe against supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic and broadcasters. Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland said many of their schools received a similar email threat from abroad, but it was classified as a hoax and did not disrupt classes. In Italy, schools quickly closed after warnings, leading many parents to abandon what they were doing to pick up children. “My daughter Dafne started crying because the kids didn’t understand what was happening, and she was still in shock when I picked her up,” said Nensi Bego, mother of a child at Mazzini High School in Rome. “This is very annoying. It’s obvious that it’s just a hoax that disrupts lessons and disrupts everyone’s day.” Reuters also included a threat to attack Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He said the bomb alerts did not pose any danger and that police and other public bodies were monitoring the situation. “All students have been taken to a safe area and remain under the supervision of teaching staff,” a school in Rome informed parents via a messaging app. The email received in Italy was signed “Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misogynistan,” according to a copy of the message seen by Reuters. “The (school) emails are public. (Sending the bomb alert messages) was as easy as drinking a glass of water,” a national security source told Reuters. The same alleged perpetrator claimed responsibility for the email bomb threats sent to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria on Friday. Russia and Iran deny the accusations. Some European officials suspect Russia may be behind a campaign to disrupt daily life in European nations that support Ukraine after Moscow’s invasion. France summoned Iran’s ambassador on Tuesday after accusing Tehran of a cyberattack that disabled refrigerators in hundreds of supermarkets last week. Iran rejected those accusations as “baseless and hostile.” Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said Wednesday’s threats were part of a clear strategy “to spread fear and create anxiety,” according to the Adnkronos news agency. “It is not always the work of foreign countries or hostile entities. There are also attention seekers and lunatics who, at a time like this, cannot wait to unleash terror on a city or a region,” he added. Antonello Giannelli, head of the Association of Italian School Directors, said the alerts were worrying for students, families and staff in school educational activities,” he said.
