In Italy, hundreds of schools were urgently evacuated due to bomb threats. The letters were signed with the name "Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Wilayat of Misogynistan".
The mailing affected about 6,000 educational institutions across the country. 300 of them decided to take the threats seriously and turn the children away.
The managements of the educational institutions sent messages to parents that they can take their children home if they fear for their safety, an Italian resident told Podem publication.
"Regarding the bomb threat affecting public schools across Italy: we do not have confirmation of this information.
The Carabinieri tell me that it is clearly a hacker attack, and since there has been no information from the authorities and we have not received any official notification, we can go back to school.
Parents can, if they wish, take their children out of school for their own peace of mind.
We will notify you immediately of any further changes in the situation," one such letter reads.
On November 6, emails with mining threats from "Mikhail Andropov" were received by the editors of several European TV channels: RTE in Ireland, Sky in the UK and Nova TV in Bulgaria.