Russian diplomats accused of spying expelled from Italy

Written by journalist Danylo Aleksandrov

Two Russian diplomats were expelled from Italy after evidence surfaced of them spying. They gathered information regarding military aid that Italy provided to Ukraine.

Their expulsion happened after investigation by Italian police. It was found that two Italian ex intelligence agents shared the information on the aid that the country provided to Ukraine, which fights the Russian invasion for the 5th year now.

Italian police investigation concluded that one of the former intelligence officer received payment from Russians for disclosing to them information they were interested in. It was obtained through 6 sources, 4 of which were from personnel currently serving. Two days after the intelligence agents’ arrest, it was decided that two military attaches from the Russian embassy will be expelled from Italy.

Local media report that it is likely that the information the Russian were looking for was data on French-Italian SAMP/T air defence system which is set to be sent to Ukraine in 2026 as well as Aster missiles already in Ukraine.

La Stampa newspaper which quoted the recordings of suspect’s phone conversations says that over the period of 12 years he provided Moscow with “thousands” items of information. Defence Minister of Italy Guido Crosetto said that this affair is just the tip of the iceberg of Russian hybrid warfare underway in Europe since the start of full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Diplomats were given 3 days to leave the country. Italian PM Antonio Tajani in a post in X said that Russia continues to attack the West and Italy in particular with hybrid tactics. He emphasized that the actions of those diplomats are unacceptable to Italy.

Russian media report that the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs pledged to give an “appropriate response” to Italian actions.