At least 300 schools evacuated across Italy following emailed bomb threats

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At least 300 schools across Italy were evacuated on Wednesday after receiving bomb threats via email, affecting major cities including Rome, Milan, Florence, Turin, Sanremo, Vicenza, Naples, Bari, Cagliari and Palermo.

State-run media reported that the number of affected schools could increase, citing Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara. At least 12 schools in Rome, Milan and the surrounding Lombardy region, as well as Naples and the Campania region, received the threats. The affected institutions included primary schools and nurseries.

The email was reportedly sent by someone identifying himself as “Mikhail Andropov, leader of Vilayat Misoginistan”. It threatened a “genocide against Italians” and claimed that explosives had been planted in every targeted school and the education minister’s car.

Italy’s ANSA news agency reported that police were investigating the message and the little-known group behind it.

Cristina Costarelli, head of the Lazio school principals' association, described the sender as a “myth maniac” seeking to spread panic.

Police officers and Carabinieri military police carried out inspections with explosives experts but found no evidence of explosives. Nevertheless, students and teachers were evacuated as a precaution.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called an emergency cabinet meeting for 4:00 PM local time (3:00 PM GMT) to assess the situation.