Experts suspect Russia is behind a series of hoax bomb threats that sparked flight chaos in Europe, with multiple passenger jets forced to make emergency landings at airports across the continent.
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jets → suspect → continent
At least seven planes, including three from Britain, were targeted on Tuesday, raising fears of a co-ordinated sabotage attack that Vladimir Putin may be behind.
It comes amid concerns that the Kremlin leader has expanded his hybrid war against NATO, with refrigerators and freezers across seven European countries hit by a cyber-attack in recent days.
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refrigerators → include → days
Russian troops are also showing signs of preparing for a potential new incursion, following Putin's warning last week that there would be 'no winners' if he entered a conflict with the West.
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he → show → West
At least two flights to Warsaw, two to Sofia, two to Rome and one to Murcia airport in Spain were subjected to the threats on Tuesday, and another flight to Sofia had been threatened a day earlier.
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flight → subject → Sofia
A flight from London Heathrow to Warsaw’s main Chopin airport was diverted to the nearby Modlin airport, which was closed and then reopened after the plane was searched and no device was found.
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device → divert → airport
Another Warsaw-bound flight, a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen, landed at Chopin as scheduled.
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flight → bind → Chopin
Police and bomb squads were there on arrival, who declared the plane safe.
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plane → declare → arrival
Later on Tuesday, bomb disposal experts at Rome's Fiumicino airport searched two Ryanair planes - one originating from Lisbon and the other from Dublin - following anonymous tips regarding potential bomb threats.
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experts → search → threats
The Dublin flight was escorted by the Italian air force until it landed.
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it → escort → force
In Murcia in southeastern Spain, parts of an airport were cordoned off after reports of a 'written security threat' on a Ryanair flight from Manchester.
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parts → cordone → Manchester
The plane landed as scheduled in Spain
Bomb threats were made against planes traveling from Milan/Bergamo and Dublin to Sofia, Bulgaria.
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threats → land → Sofia
Both landed safely and no explosive devices were found on inspection.
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devices → land → inspection
The Bergamo flight was operated by Wizz Air and was carrying 176 passengers, while the Dublin flight, operated by Ryanair, had 186 passengers on board.
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flight → operate → board
In Murcia in southeastern Spain, parts of an airport were cordoned off after reports of a 'written security threat' on a Ryanair flight from Manchester.
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parts → cordone → Manchester
The plane landed as scheduled in Spain.
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plane → land → Spain
A passenger on the flight said she was unaware of the suspected bomb threat until after the plane landed.
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plane → say → threat
'We weren't told anything during the flight,' Sarah told BBC 5 Live.
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Sarah → tell → BBC
'The plane stopped quite suddenly and then we were kept on the runway for 30 minutes.
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we → stop → minutes
'Then the fire engines and bomb squad turned up and we were asked to evacuate.'
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we → turn → ?
She described how the jet had not been on the ground for even a minute before it was 'surrounded by police and a bomb squad'.
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it → describe → police
The passengers were escorted away and made to walk from the runway to the airport, leaving their belongings on board.
'We were only later told that it was an actual threat, a bomb threat to the plane itself,' she added.
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she → escort → plane
A day earlier, a Wizz Air flight from London to Sofia was diverted to Budapest airport after receiving a bomb threat.
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flight → divert → threat
All flights were determined to be false alarms.
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flights → determine → ?
An explosives detection dog and a diver searched the Panama-flagged Crown Iris cruise ship on the Greek island of Syros after an unknown person said an explosive device had been attached to the boat's hull.
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device → search → hull
While no country pointed fingers over the bomb threats, they come at a time when European officials have been blaming both Russia and Iran for what they describe as 'hybrid attacks' and acts of sabotage.
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they → point → sabotage
Moscow and Tehran both deny any such campaign.
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Moscow → deny → campaign
This week, unidentified hackers shut down fridges in supermarkets in several European countries.
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hackers → shut → countries
Some experts said hoax bomb threats could be part of a similar pattern of low-cost, deniable disruption efforts.
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threats → say → efforts
'From railways to the food infrastructure that you see happening with the fridges being hacked and all kinds of other operations, it does fit the narrative of Russian state actors who want to disturb Europe,' said Eric Schouten, the head of aviation security group Dyami.
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Schouten → see → Dyami
Security and Intelligence expert Professor Anthony Glees said it was 'highly likely' that Putin was responsible.
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Putin → say → ?
He told GB News: 'There’s a kinetic shadow war going on against us, but there’s also a secret subversive war underway using disinformation - which is what hoaxes are.
'
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hoaxes → tell → disinformation
They spread mayhem and even panic.
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They → spread → mayhem
They test our resilience.
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They → test → resilience
'Now is a very good time for Putin to challenge us….
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Putin → challenge → us
We’re not yet ready to fight seriously, so there's plenty of scope for Putin to wage a grey war against us.
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Putin → ’re → us
Defence expert and former Army Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Crawford said this week’s bomb threats could be part of a 'coordinated sub-threshold attack' from Moscow.
'
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threats → say → Moscow
I suspect the European security services will have a fair inkling of what’s going on,' he added, but said that more time was needed to identify Russia as the culprit formally.
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time → suspect → culprit
A LOT Polish Airlines passenger flight departed London Heathrow Airport on Tuesday morning and headed for Warsaw Chopin Airport, but was diverted to Warsaw Modlin following the alert
Passengers in Murcia airport following the bomb threat on the Ryanair plane from Manchester
A police officer and a sniffer dog inspecting a Ryanair airplane and its baggage in Murcia, Spain
The Ryanair flight had 121 people on board, including crew, according to Francisco Lucas, the Spanish government's delegate in the Murcia region of Spain
A hacking attack on European supermarkets spread across the continent on Monday, hitting fridges and freezers from Sweden to Belgium and forcing stores to throw away food in an incident that echoed a similar attack in France last month.
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that → depart → France
The attack, which raised temperatures in refrigerator and freezer units at dozens of stores, hit supermarket groups Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt in Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as Swedish grocers ICA and Coop.
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which → raise → Belgium
Furniture-to-meatballs retailer IKEA also saw at least one store affected.
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store → see → meatballs
…and 28 more, not listed.
The Aporia
