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A mysterious shortwave radio station in Russia that has been in operation since the 1970s, known by many as the “Doomsday Radio” or “The Buzzer,” sent out two new cryptic messages this week. No one knows what the messages mean, who is sending them, or why?
Then again, that has been the case for close to five decades. The shortwave radio station, which is also known as “The Bell” or just UVB-76 – its first known call sign, has been transmitting a continuous buzzing sound since the 1970s that is occasionally interrupted by a cryptic message, making it a popular topic for radio enthusiasts.
The latest messages that was broadcast on the 4625 kHz frequency were, of course, in Russian and contained a call sign the station has broadcast before: “NZHTI.” It also transmitted the word “HOTEL” and several numbers: “38, 965, 78, 58, 88, 37.”
Russia’s UVB-76 ‘Doomsday Radio’ makes SECOND cryptic broadcast today
Codewords ‘NZHTI’ and ‘HOTEL’ spelled out for unknown listeners
Who knows what orders just went out… pic.twitter.com/PqTOsdku2y
— RT (@RT_com) September 8, 2025
“John Wick has just received his orders,” someone joked on X (Twitter).
“I’m waiting for “COVFEFE,” someone else joked.
So what exactly is the station’s purpose?
According to DailyMail.com, Russia’s “Doomsday Radio” is located about 18 miles from Moscow. No one knows its purpose, but Popular Mechanics speculated in a 2024 article that because shortwave radio allows signals to travel further (well past the borders of Russia), the messages could be transmitting to submarines or Russian troops. It has also been speculated that it could be a “Dead Hand” doomsday device monitoring for nuclear attacks.
Other theories are that Russia is broadcasting radio signals into the atmosphere to search for UFOs, that it is some form of ionosphere research, that it is tied directly to the Chernobyl nuclear plant, or it is part of an international spy network.
Radio enthusiasts have been monitoring UVB-76 since 1982 and since then there has only been one day, in 2010, where it wasn’t broadcasting something. Initially, the station broadcast a series of beeps, then switched to the monotonous buzzing sound it makes today.
In 2010, the location of the signal also appeared to change. The transmission was originally believed to come from a Russian military base in the town of Povarovo. Now some believe it comes from multiple government communications sites, including one in St. Petersburg and one in Moscow.
Then again, as David Stupples, Ph.D., professor of electronic and radio engineering at City University of London, told Popular Mechanics, Russia “may be just reserving the channel for air defense or some form of defense” because “if they don’t actually use it, someone will poach it.”