The key facts

  • On November 5, UVB-76 transmitted four messages: 'podpukhly' ('puffy'), 'milya' ('mile'), 'brontozavr' ('brontosaurus'), and 'vattofail'
  • The last cipher sounded at 20:04 Moscow time
  • On November 2, the station transmitted a message containing the word 'Duce'

Four broadcasts in a single day

The 'Doomsday Radio Station' (UVB-76) transmitted four messages on November 5. The last one sounded at 20:04 Moscow time and contained the word 'vattofail': 'NZHTI 17521 VATTOFAIL 5059 6881.' The Telegram channel 'UVB-76 Broadcast,' which monitors the station's activity reports Gazeta.Ru.

What the station transmitted

The three previous messages on November 5 included the words 'podpukhly' ('puffy'), 'milya' ('mile'), and 'brontozavr' ('brontosaurus'). Earlier, on November 2, the station transmitted a cipher consisting of a set of digits and letters, in the middle of which stood the word 'Duce'.

What is known about the station

UVB-76 has been operating since the mid-1970s. Most of the time, a continuous buzzing signal sounds on air, which earned the station the nickname 'The Buzzer.' The name 'Doomsday Radio Station' stuck because, according to some reports, UVB-76 is part of a nuclear deterrence system created in the USSR at the height of the Cold War and allegedly still used by Russia. The purpose of the transmitted word messages is not officially disclosed; earlier, a researcher described how radio pirates prank on the station's frequency .