Irish intelligence: Russia is behind a wave of false threats against flights and institutions ahead of the EU summit in Dublin.
Ireland's intelligence services suspect that Russia is behind a wave of false reports about the planting of explosive devices. The threats were directed at at least 50 flights that operated between Great Britain, Ireland and continental European countries.
In addition, bomb threats were received at schools on both sides of the Irish border, supermarket chains and media outlets. According to Irish intelligence, the campaign was designed to sow chaos ahead of a major EU summit to be held in Dublin.
Last week, the false threats caused disruptions in air traffic, and hackers broke into the refrigeration systems of the SuperValu supermarket chain. Irish intelligence estimates that the attacks are coordinated and may be linked to the Russian intelligence services.
The Minister for European Affairs and Defense, Thomas Byrne, said that Russia is involved in similar operations throughout Europe. Ireland is considered a vulnerable destination due to the many submarine cables and data centers of Google, Amazon and Microsoft operating there. About 75% of transatlantic cables pass through or near Irish territorial waters.
Ahead of the summit, the authorities are preparing for the largest security operation in the country's history.