Russian drone warning interrupts Swedish radio broadcast

A Swedish driver in Sörmland heard a Russian-language drone warning interrupt a national radio news broadcast on Thursday, state broadcaster SVT reports.

Johan Klinthammar, 52, from Katrineholm, was listening to P1’s Lunchekot near Björkvik when the broadcast was briefly replaced by a male voice in Russian warning of an impending drone attack, urging listeners to stay home, avoid windows, or seek shelter.

Klinthammar, who did not understand the message, recorded the car radio display showing “Larmmeddelande” (alarm message). He initially assumed a technical fault.

State-owned network operator Teracom attributes the incident to tropospheric ducting, a natural phenomenon where temperature layers in the atmosphere bounce radio signals over long distances. Signals from Kaliningrad or St. Petersburg likely crossed the Baltic Sea and were picked up by Swedish receivers, according to Teracom network strategist Jan Ossfeldt.

Ossfeldt said Teracom receives a handful of similar reports annually, often during shifts from hot to cooler summer weather. He noted the phenomenon is difficult to prevent but stressed that Swedish broadcast content remains secure against interference.