Bomb threats in Europe: airports received letter signed by members of the Russian group 'Male State'; founder denies

In recent days, countries in Europe have been surprised by false threats of bombs on planes.

The founder of the "Male State", a Russian masculinist movement banned in 2021 for "extremism", denied, this Friday (6), any connection with the false bomb threats that have been multiplying in Europe.

Some organizations affected by the threats, such as Birmingham, Rome and Sofia airports, have received messages signed by alleged "Masculine State fighters".

In response to questions from journalists, the movement's founder, Vladislav Pozdniakov, stated on Telegram that the group "simply hasn't existed since 2021", the year in which it was banned by Russian authorities.

"Those who today organize provocations on the territory of European Union countries [in the name of this movement] act out of self-interest and limit themselves to using a flag that does not belong to them," he added.

False bomb threats have disrupted European air traffic for several days, causing delays or forcing the deployment of fighter jets to escort civilian aircraft.

These bomb threats come against a backdrop of intensifying "hybrid attacks" in Europe, some of which authorities or investigators link to Russia and sometimes Iran.

"Male State" was founded in 2016 by Vladislav Pozdniakov, a blogger and sports coach, initially as a community on the Russian social network VK. It later acquired a semi-political character, with an ideology that combined misogyny and nationalism.

The movement, which never had a large scale, was known mainly for its online harassment campaigns, until Russian authorities declared it "extremist" and banned it in 2021.