Russia’s chilling 'doomsday radio station' explained as it sends first message in months

Russia’s chilling 'doomsday radio station' sent its first message in months, and what remains is speculation of what it could be used for.

Officially known as UVB-76, the mysterious Russian shortwave radio station has broadcast a constant, monotone buzz on 4625 kHz since the late 1970s Cold War period.

The buzzer repeats roughly 21–34 pulses per minute, often lasting about 1 to 1.2 seconds each, followed by pauses of approximately 1 to 1.3 seconds.

Its signature tone became a bit of an obsession amongst radio enthusiasts when Estonian tech entrepreneur Andrus Aaslaid started streaming it online in June 2010, as reported by WIRED.

Over time, the station occasionally broke its droning loop with cryptic voice messages.

And throughout the years, these interruptions have featured Russian names, letters, or seemingly random words and numbers.

Messages from Russia’s chilling 'doomsday radio station' from this year

Vladimir Putin has never commented on Russia’s chilling 'doomsday radio station' (Contributor/Getty Images)

On April 15, the doomsday radio, also referred to as the 'Buzzer', was said to have signalled four words: Neptune, Thymus, Foxcloak, and Nootabu, according to Telegram channel UVB-76 logs.

A month later on 19 May, UVB-76 broadcast the ominous code 'NZhTI 89905 BLEFOPUF 4097 5573' before Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump's 'excellent' phone call. It then followed up with 'NZhTI 01263 BOLTANKA 4430 9529'.

And just yesterday (8 September), two more codes were heard: 'NZHTI' and 'HOTEL'. A series of numbers - '38, 965, 78, 58, 88, 37' - was also heard.

What do the codes mean?

Speculation online consists of a long list of possibilities (Getty Stock Images)

Simply put, no-one knows for sure what the codes heard on UVB-76 actually mean.

"It is almost certainly the Russian government that is using it," says professor David Stupples, who teaches electronic and radio engineering at the City University of London.

He told Popular Mechanics magazine: "If it is the Russian government, it wouldn't be for peaceful purposes."

Freelance radio monitor Ary Boender, who manages the Numbers & Oddities website, added: "Some say that it is an old Soviet Dead Man's Switch that triggers a nuclear attack on the west when it stops buzzing.

"Others say that it is a homing beacon for UFOs or a mind control device with which the Russians can program your mind.

"In the past, it was said that it was a remote control station belonging to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant."

Conspiracy theorists suggest that the radio station could signal WW3 (ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Another theory is that the constant buzzing sound is just a channel marker that keeps the radio frequency reserved for the Russian military.

It could potentially be used to help operators know if the signal is lost.

But perhaps a more practical theory is that UVB-76 is used to send coded instructions to Russian military units.

The voice messages with random names, numbers, and codewords suggest it’s an active communication tool rather than just a relic from the Cold War.

As for now, everything mentioned above is purely speculation, as the Russian government has never publicly commented on it.