In southwest Moscow, on General Antonov Street, a civil engineer named Roman Matsukov reported a troubling incident involving his pregnant wife. Initially, he suspected faulty wiring and damaged insulation as the cause of unexpectedly heated floors inside their apartment.
He described to socialbites.ca how a measurement professional, hired from an online advertisement, used a device to observe microwave-like emissions that appeared in 2 to 3 minute and 5 minute intervals. The pattern struck them as unusual, and the mystery deepened as they explored possible sources of radiation within a city dwelling.
The couple pursued information online about what could generate such radiation in a typical apartment. They found instructions for constructing a magnetron, the microwave radiation source used in ordinary ovens and some industrial furnaces, and started to wonder if a neighbor might be involved due to a long-running dispute.
One of the claims suggested that a magnetron could be assembled from a microwave oven and placed in a guide that is accessible online. The implication was that someone with basic soldering skills could build a device capable of emitting microwave radiation into a shared living space.
The man recalled being shocked by the possibility and shared the video in which these observations were documented. The conflict with the downstairs neighbor began late last year after the Matsukovs moved in. Complaints about noise from a running child led to tensions, and a dispute over quiet living space escalated. While Matsukov tried to dampen sounds by installing new flooring, the neighbor remained dissatisfied.
The tension peaked when the neighbor arrived with a police contingent to voice concerns about the noise. Officers reportedly found no legal violations and declined to take formal statements.
In April, the situation shifted. Matsukov described attempts to address the problem through vibrocolumns attached to the stove, a method claimed to transmit vibrations and reduce noise in his own unit. He noted that the neighbor’s apartment remained quiet, yet his own endured noticeable disturbance. White noise, ticking clocks, and other acoustic tricks were tried, but his wife did not react to them.
After identifying what he believed to be the radiation source in his own apartment, Matsukov contacted law enforcement and presented what he described as a video record of the experiment. He claimed that the police watched a demonstration of the phenomenon and then left without pursuing any further action after the door was not opened for them. He recalled momentarily that a reaction occurred when he moved a chair, and the emissions appeared again.
“So much nonsense”
Rospotrebnadzor approached the Muscovites’ story with skepticism, citing the frequency of similar complaints about alleged irradiation. Detecting microwave radiation typically requires specialized equipment, according to Andrei Guskov, deputy head of the sanitary inspection department at Rospotrebnadzor. He stressed that measurements cannot be made casually and must be conducted by an accredited laboratory using proper instruments. Without instrumented readings, it is not possible to confirm or deny exposure.
The expert acknowledged that a magnetron from a microwave oven can be dangerous if misused, but he warned that such danger cannot be transmitted from a building’s ceiling. Reinforced concrete acts as a substantial barrier, he noted.
The specialist who conducted measurements for Matsukov, Svyatoslav, admitted that his tests were not conducted as professional scientific work. His typical practice involves using a thermal imager to locate air leaks and cold air drafts, a method he encountered during this case for the first time. He described setting up the thermal camera to scan the ground and detecting a roughly 16 cm circle of heat above the surface. When he moved the camera closer, it malfunctioned and burned, complicating the assessment. He also demonstrated a handheld device meant to detect common signals like cell phones, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, which is not designed to detect microwave radiation. He noted that his simple experiments involved placing a mercury bulb and an egg on a plate to observe heating effects, a reading that suggested possible microwave influence.
According to him, if a hand is raised off the ground, it may feel warmer, though he emphasized that the experiments were informal. He argued that basic observations hint at a radiative process that merits verification by qualified technicians using proper microwave-detection equipment, preferably coordinated by the government’s radio frequency center. He added that a formal measurement could be requested through the appropriate channels.
“Not a phone call”
Lawyer Vasily Vorobyov explained that even if Matsukov’s claims about a neighbor’s magnetron were proven, legal routes to address such actions are limited. He noted that the law does not authorize forced home inspections or impose penalties in the Criminal Code or Administrative Offenses Code for these kinds of neighbor conflicts. Compensation for moral or material damage remains possible, but only if there is verified harm and a proven link to the neighbor’s dwelling. He warned that many such cases are based on speculation rather than evidence.
A socialbites.ca reporter contacted a Muscovite accused by Matsukov of creating a magnetron; the person declined to respond by phone and urged handling the matter through proper law enforcement channels, not a newspaper. The individual stressed the importance of formal procedures and expressed that there were no current complaints against them. The question about the upstairs neighbor remained unresolved as of the interview.