Amid the repetitive buzzing of UVB-76 radio, one detail stood out and caught the attention of radio listeners around the world. Instead of continuous noise or coded messages, listeners reported hearing a classical piece on the frequency. Not just any piece, but Swan Lake.

UVB-76, also known as The Buzzer, is a shortwave radio station that primarily transmits a continuous buzzing sound on the frequency of 4625 kHz. It has been monitored for decades by radio enthusiasts and is widely associated with Russian military communications.

If you are unfamiliar with the station, learn more in this post:
UVB-76 Radio: understand the mysterious buzzing and how to listen live

Unusual transmissions are not rare in the history of this signal. Over the years, UVB-76 has shown occasional variations, including interruptions of the continuous buzz, voice transmissions, and technical anomalies. While these episodes attract attention, they are not exceptions within the station’s broader history. Even the transmission of Swan Lake itself is not entirely new in this context.

In recent years, especially from 2024 onward, and again in December 2025 and January 2026, this story resurfaced with renewed intensity, fueled by new reports claiming that listeners heard the music again on the UVB-76 frequency.

In this post, we examine the subject carefully. You will see which dates are actually supported by records, which episodes have documentary grounding, and which rely solely on listener reports. We will also explore how this piece of music came to symbolize crises, ruptures, and moments of instability.

Did UVB-76 really broadcast Swan Lake?

Outside of this specific context, however, there are no reliable technical records confirming official broadcasts of Swan Lake by UVB-76. What appears in other periods are reports of music or audio heard on the same 4625 kHz frequency, without clear proof of the signal’s origin.

This distinction is essential. Audio heard on a frequency does not necessarily imply transmission by the station itself. In shortwave radio, interference, external tests, and unauthorized transmissions are technically possible and relatively common.

For this reason, analyzing episodes associated with Swan Lake requires separating a documented event from later occurrences with unverified authorship. The focus shifts away from symbolic interpretation and toward the technical context of each case.

September 2, 2010: the best-documented episode

The strongest documented case involving Swan Lake ties directly to a specific date: September 2, 2010. At that time, the frequency experienced days of instability for a technical reason. The station was relocating its facilities from Povarovo to an area near Saint Petersburg.

Monitoring logs from that period show that engineers transmitted music during testing and maintenance of the new transmitter, including excerpts from Swan Lake.

In this context, the music was not part of regular programming nor a coded message. Everything indicates that the audio was used as a test signal, a common practice in broadcast systems to assess signal quality and range while engineers calibrate equipment.

For this reason, the episode appears in technical materials used by radio listeners for years. It is not an official confirmation from Russian authorities, but it remains the case with the strongest historical support available.

This testing period produced some of the most frequently cited recordings among radio enthusiasts. Radio listeners often reference the audio below as an example of the musical transmissions they heard on the UVB-76 frequency during the instability phase of 2010:

Later records and sporadic mentions

After 2010, scattered references to musical transmissions associated with UVB-76 appear in other periods, such as February 2022. These mentions, however, are fragmented and lack consistent technical documentation or consensus among specialized sources.

In practice, they function more as echoes of the original episode than as new milestones. As such, they reinforce the idea that the frequency can occasionally deviate from its usual pattern, but they do not support independent conclusions.

December 2024: many searches, few certainties

In December 2024, UVB-76 returned to the spotlight primarily due to an unusual increase in the number of genuine military messages transmitted. Almost simultaneously, reports began circulating that associated this period with classical music being heard on the frequency.

The key point is that public technical logs from that month do not confirm that the music originated from the official station. This is where modern jamming becomes relevant. With the widespread availability of software-defined radios (SDR), it has become far easier for activists and radio amateurs to override official signals with pirate transmissions, injecting audio to create confusion or political protest.

November 2025 and January 2026: recent episodes with uncertain authorship

On November 18, 2025, and again in January 2026, new videos once more linked music to the UVB-76 frequency. These records come almost exclusively from livestreams and radio amateurs, without independent technical validation.

The scenario mirrors that of 2024. Something was heard on the frequency, but in a world where signals can be externally spoofed, an official origin is highly unlikely. These episodes are often interpreted as third-party interventions that leverage the station’s notoriety to echo the symbolic weight of classical music.

Videos like the one below circulated widely on livestreams and online platforms, reigniting the association between UVB-76 and Swan Lake, despite the lack of technical confirmation of the signal’s source:

Why Swan Lake, specifically?

A scene from the ballet Swan Lake in Moscow, 1950.

The strength of this story does not come from radio alone. It comes from Russian cultural history.

For decades, Swan Lake was used by Soviet state television during programming interruptions, typically associated with serious crises such as the deaths of leaders like Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko, or during the 1991 coup attempt. Over time, Tchaikovsky’s ballet became an informal symbol of rupture and instability.

When this music becomes associated with UVB-76, the interpretation emerges almost automatically: something abnormal might be happening at the center of power. This association is understandable, but it stems from cultural memory, not from technical evidence.

A sign of global crisis?

This question comes up frequently, and not without reason.

The idea that Swan Lake signals a global crisis is symbolic rather than procedural. There is no known radio protocol in which the music functions as a strategic alert or emergency trigger.

The most commonly discussed hypotheses include the use of audio as a technical test signal, as in 2010; external interference or jamming; or, less likely but not impossible, some form of internal signaling that remains poorly understood.

On social media, users quickly link these broadcasts to ongoing political or military crises. Without technical proof, it is reasonable to consider them coincidences, retrospective interpretations, or, potentially, something else entirely. The question remains open, and it may be precisely this uncertainty that keeps the mystery alive.

What can be stated without exaggeration

Based on available records, it is reasonable to state that:

• On September 2, 2010, the station transmitted music on the frequency during the physical relocation of its transmitters.

• Later episodes exist primarily as listener reports, without clear confirmation of signal origin;

• The association with the ballet is amplified by its historical weight, turning technical exceptions into symbols loaded with political meaning.

Conclusion

The story of Swan Lake on UVB-76 radio is not only about a strange signal. It is about how exceptions acquire meaning.

Between technical records, jamming tactics, and cultural memory, the mystery persists precisely because not everything can be confirmed. And perhaps it is this lack of definitive answers that continues to draw so much attention.

In the end, UVB-76 continues to do what it has always done: transmit noise, numbers, and occasionally music, leaving each listener to decide what it all means.

Sources and references

Priyom.org – The Buzzer (UVB-76)
The most reliable technical resource on the station, with historical logs and documentation maintained by specialized radio listeners.
https://priyom.org/military-stations/russia/the-buzzer

Priyom.org – December 2024 logs
Detailed records supporting the confirmed increase in activity during the period that sparked renewed interest.
https://priyom.org/military-stations/russia/the-buzzer/2024/december

The Buzzer Primer (2012)
A foundational historical document compiling technical analyses, pattern changes, and the 2010 episode, including non-standard transmissions.
https://numbersoddities.nl/the_buzzer_primer.pdf

ABC News – Swan Lake as a political symbol
Contextualizes the historical use of the ballet as a symbolic marker of crisis and rupture in Russia and the former USSR.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/swan-lake-symbol-protest-russia/story?id=84401801