The Doomsday radio station broadcast two new messages. What you need to know

Radio station UVB-76, also known as Doomsday radio station or "buzzer", has transmitted two new mysterious messages. An unknown voice left the messages "malice" and "piggy" on the air. Before that, amateur radio operators caught two ciphers released on the same day as a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump. What is known about the mysterious radio station is in the Izvestia article.

What is a "buzzer"?

• There is no reliable information about what the radio station is and why it releases its messages. Even its name is rather arbitrary — initially, radio amateurs called it UZB-76, meaning that the first messages began to arrive in 1976. Then the call sign was changed to UVB-76.

• To hear the broadcast of a radio station, it is enough to tune a shortwave radio receiver to a frequency of 4625 kilohertz. Most of the time, an intermittent low hum sounds against the background of noise, which is why the radio station is also nicknamed the buzzer. But sometimes various messages arrive, the meaning of which is puzzled by radio amateurs.

What were the messages?

• Messages in Russian appear suddenly and become an event in the radio world. With their help, students try to understand the purpose of UVB-76 and isolate any meaningful information. Usually, messages are encrypted using the phonetic alphabet (when letters are transmitted in words that begin with this letter). The letters make either an existing word or one similar to the present one. The messages begin with the abbreviation NWTI and are accompanied by a number of numbers. For example, on May 22, the phrases "NJTI 37339 BEZLOBIE 4223 7856" and "NJTI 04315 PIGGY 4726 4703" were broadcast. On May 19, before Putin's conversation with Trump and right during it, listeners heard the messages "NJTI 89905 BLEFOPUF 4097 5573" and "NJTI 01263 BOLTANKA 4430 9529".

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• The frequency and volume of messages are constantly varying. At the dawn of the radio station's existence, a pause on the air could last for several years. Since the early 2000s, messages began to arrive almost every week, and sometimes for several days in a row, but sometimes the radio station went silent for months. The volume of transmitted ciphers also varies — from two to three dozen. No pattern has yet been found between the messages among radio amateurs.

• It is extremely rare for perfectly understandable messages to appear on the air of UVB-76. In 2001, the words "I'm 143, I don't get a generator, this kind of work is going on from the hardware" were heard, later the phrases "the agronomist goes out the gate" and "inflatable rescue boat" were broadcast. Sometimes music was playing on the radio station, but this phenomenon is usually explained by hacking the frequency.

Who owns the radio station

• On June 5, 2010, the UVB-76 broadcast went completely silent, there was not even the usual buzzing. However, the sound returned a day later. Enthusiasts believe that this was due to the transfer of the radio station. It is assumed that earlier it was located near the military town of the village of Povarovo near Moscow. Then it was moved, but its location remained unknown. There are versions that the broadcast originates from the Pskov or Leningrad region.

• Due to the aura of secrecy, the owner of the radio station is usually referred to as the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces, but this information has never been officially confirmed. There are suggestions that UVB-76 is necessary to ensure Russia's nuclear safety — interrupting the broadcast will be a signal for a retaliatory nuclear strike. It can also be used to transmit secret messages to intelligence agents or take over the airwaves in case of an emergency alert to the public.