Italy expels two Russian diplomats accused of spying: minister

Italy on Thursday ordered the expulsion of two Russian military attaches accused of spying, with its foreign minister condemning "serious and unacceptable acts of interference" by Moscow.

The expulsions came two days after police announced the arrest of two former Italian intelligence agents who media reports said gave Russia secrets on military aid to Ukraine.

"The Italian government has decided to expel two military attaches from the embassy of the Russian Federation in Italy, involved in espionage activities uncovered by the Rome public prosecutor’s office," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote on X.

The minister named the Russians as Ivan Petrovich Gorbachev and Mikhail Vasilyevich Astakhov and said they had been ordered to leave within three days.

"Moscow continues to use hybrid warfare to attack the West and Italy -- acts of interference that are serious and unacceptable to Italian institutions and national security," Tajani commented.

Rome police said on Tuesday that one of the detained Italians, a 59-year-old former intelligence officer, had been paid by a Russian handler and "disclosed to him information of interest through six sources -- including four serving military personnel assigned to posts marked by a high level of confidentiality".

Media reports said the Italians had handed over information on an Italian-French air defence system, the SAMP/T, due to be delivered to Ukraine this year, and on Aster missiles that have already been sent to Kyiv.

Russian handlers had also sought details on a NATO mission in Bulgaria and the Italian company Avio that makes motors for drones and supersonic missiles.

Corriere della Sera newspaper said the 59-year-old also provided the identities of Italian counter-espionage agents who were meant to monitor the Russians.

Quoting a recording of the suspect's telephone conversations, La Stampa newspaper said the man gave "thousands" of items of information over a 12-year period.

A lawyer for the former Italian spy denied there had been any treason, asserting that the man, who was to be formally questioned on Friday, had only gathered publicly available information.

Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said on Tuesday that the case was "just the tip of the iceberg" in Russia's so-called "hybrid war" in Europe as it pursues its invasion of Ukraine.

In 2024, an Italian court jailed a navy captain caught selling classified documents to the Russian embassy three years earlier.

Italy expelled two Russian officials then and Moscow expelled an Italian diplomat in retaliation.

The Russian foreign ministry quoted by state news agency RIA Novosti on Thursday said Moscow would react with "an appropriate response".

Russia's ambassador to Italy, Sergei Paramonov, said the Italian foreign ministry "wants to limit as much as possible Russia's influence in Italy" by expelling diplomats.

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© Agence France-Presse