Russia’s Cyber Operations Behind School Bomb Threats, Czech Intelligence Chief Says

Czech secret service chief Michal Koudelka accused Russia of orchestrating a wave of recent bomb threats targeting schools in Czechia and Slovakia, stating this on November 18.

In early September, hundreds of schools in Czechia Republic and Slovakia were forced to shut down for several days as police investigated a series of bomb threats. However, no explosives were found, and the threats proved to be unfounded.

“Operations in cyberspace are also related to direct attacks on entities in our country… for example, the September threatening emails about the placement of explosives targeting a number of schools in Czechia and Slovakia, behind which there is also a clearly visible Russian trace,” he said.

“We are witnessing a kind of globalization of evil, where the countries of the axis of evil — Russia, China, Iran and North Korea — support, complement and help each other achieve their goals. We are therefore witnessing a phenomenon that is very serious and dangerous,” said Koudelka.

Czechia has faced numerous incidents linked to Russian intelligence over the years. In 2021, the country expelled 18 Russian diplomats after Czech intelligence revealed evidence connecting Russia to a deadly explosion in 2014.

At the beginning of May, NATO and the EU expressed solidarity with Germany and Czechia in connection with cyber attacks carried out by a Russian hacker group.

Shortly after, European intelligence agencies alerted their respective governments that Russia was scheming to carry out violent acts of sabotage across the continent.