The General Police Inspectorate of Moldova received more than 50 reports of explosives planted in public institutions on July 5, all false.

Bombings were reported in parliament and government buildings, courts and hospitals. The police do not yet know whether these messages were sent by the same person or several people, and the reasons for the threats are unclear.

The July 5 reports were part of a wave of bomb threats that have swept across Moldova in recent days.

In two days, the police received three threats about bombs placed at Chisinau airport.

The first message about a bomb at Chisinau airport was received on Monday, July 4 at 7:10 a.m. At 10:00 it turned out that there was no bomb.

The following message was received the same day in the evening, at 8:35 p.m. Like the first, this message was sent via email and the sender demanded a cash reward.

At 11:45 p.m., border guards report that the information about the bomb has not been confirmed, but airport operations have been severely disrupted.

For the third time, the airport was the subject of a bomb threat on July 5 around noon and at 3:15 p.m. border guards reported that the alarm had again proven false.

All three times the airport was evacuated and work was suspended.

The messages were verified by police and sappers. But they found no suspicious objects.

Bomb threats were also reported in the capital, Chisinau.

At 2:50 p.m. on July 5, the General Inspectorate of Police (GIP) reported on its Facebook page that at 2:05 p.m. the police received an email about bombs in several state institutions: parliament, government, courts, shopping malls and Chisinau Airport.

“Specialized services are working to find out all the circumstances,” the statement said.

At 4:00 p.m., the post was deleted from the official GIP Facebook page. The reason was not reported.

Information about the fake bomb threats was confirmed by the Ministry of Interior (MVD).

The department noted that police “received several reports of bombs on strategic targets.” They warned the caller could face fines of up to 42,000 MDL (€2,000) for false information about bombs.

An hour after the message about the bombs in Chisinau, the wave of threats swept over Moldova. At 3:00 p.m., the police received a message about bombs at the branch of the public services agency in Balti. At 3:35 p.m., after checking the building, it was reported that the information about the bomb was unconfirmed.

After that, reports emerged of bombs at the Public Utilities Agency branches in Vulcanesti and Cahul.

Earlier this year, Serbia was also the target of numerous bomb threats, with speculation linked to the government’s refusal to join international sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.