Mysterious Doomsday Station UVB-76 Transmits Two New Cryptic Words

The shortwave radio station UVB-76, nicknamed the 'Doomsday Radio,' has broadcast two new cryptic messages, UVB-76 Logs Telegram channel said.

On May 22, at 13:13 Moscow time, the station aired the word 'bezzlobie' (meaning 'absence of malice'), followed by 'khryukostyag' (a made-up or nonsensical word) at 14:24.

UVB-76: The Mysterious 'Buzzer'

UVB-76, known among radio enthusiasts as 'the buzzer,' has been on the air since 1976. It typically broadcasts a monotonous buzzing sound 99.99% of the time, occasionally interrupted by cryptic voice messages, often single words or strings of syllables.

Broadcasts Linked to Putin-Trump Calls

Previously, the station transmitted a message ahead of the May 19 phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. At 16:15, the word 'blefopuf' was heard. Hours later, after 18:00, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that talks were underway.

At 19:47, UVB-76 broadcast the word 'boltanka' ('turbulence' or 'shaking')—coinciding with Putin’s public address following the call. That May 19 transmission broke a 23-day silence since the last message, which aired on April 26 with the word 'bekosig.'

UVB-76 was also active during the previous Putin-Trump conversation on February 12, when it broadcast a record 45 messages throughout the day. Among the words transmitted were 'ogrubenie' ('coarsening'), 'ditya' ('child'), 'suchenie', 'Buynaksk' (a Russian city), and other enigmatic phrases like 'shtatognom', 'zubyrolif', and 'menrosharzh.'

The station was also active in early and mid-February, including just before the first in-person meeting between Russian and US delegations in Riyadh on February 18.

Flurry of Messages in April

In April, the station sent ten messages in just two days. On April 24, transmissions included 'Dvinsky', 'tselostat', 'birzhevik' ("trader"), 'shveller', 'verkhoghom', 'stechenie', 'pukosmak', 'loroshtok', 'zubyrolif', and 'brodolai.'On April 25, only one message was recorded: 'klyukvenny' ("cranberry").

December Hijack Suspected

On December 17, 2024, the station unexpectedly broadcast the patriotic song "Ya – Russkiy" ("I am Russian") by pop singer SHAMAN, along with music from "Swan Lake" and the anthem of the USSR—suggesting a possible hack.

Just days earlier, on December 13, UVB-76 had broadcast 24 messages in a single day. The first words were 'khunhuz', 'azbuka' ('alphabet'), and 'nanayka'.

Details

UVB-76 also known by the nickname "The Buzzer", is a shortwave radio station that broadcasts in upper sideband mode on the frequency of 4625 kHz (wavelength of 64.8 m). It broadcasts a short, monotonous , repeating at a rate of approximately 25 tones per minute, 24 hours per day. Sometimes, the buzzer signal is interrupted and a voice transmission in Russian takes place. The station is commonly known as "The Buzzer" in both English and Russian (Russian: Жужжалка, romanized: Zhuzhzhalka). From its first voice transmission in 1997 to 2010, the station identified itself as UZB-76 (Russian: УЗБ-76). The callsign UVB-76 was never used by the station itself, but is rather a mistranscription of UZB-76. However, the station is still often referred to by that name. In the following years of transmission, the main callsign of the station changed regularly.