Italy has ordered two Russian military attach\u00e9s to leave the country after prosecutors linked them to an espionage investigation that has already led to the arrest of two former Italian intelligence officers accused of passing military secrets to Moscow.<\/p>\n
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Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced on Thursday that the two diplomats, identified as Ivan Petrovich Gorbachev and Mikhail Vasilyevich Astakhov, must leave Italy within three days.<\/p>\n
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“The Italian government has decided to expel two military attach\u00e9s from the embassy of the Russian Federation in Italy, involved in espionage activities uncovered by the Rome public prosecutor’s office,” Tajani said in a post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n He described the case as “serious and unacceptable acts of interference” against Italy’s institutions and national security and accused Moscow of continuing to wage hybrid warfare against Western countries.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The expulsions follow the arrest earlier this week of two former Italian intelligence officers suspected of supplying classified information to Russian contacts over several years in exchange for money.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n According to Italian police, one of the suspects, a 59-year-old former intelligence officer, obtained information through six sources, including four serving members of the Italian armed forces assigned to highly confidential positions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Italian media reported that investigators believe the information included details about military assistance to Ukraine, Italy’s rearmament plans, NATO activities, drone production sites and defence manufacturer Avio. Corriere della Sera reported that the suspects also disclosed the identities of Italian counterintelligence officers monitoring Russian activities. La Stampa, citing recordings obtained during the investigation, reported that one suspect passed “thousands” of pieces of information over a 12-year period.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n A lawyer representing the former intelligence officer denied allegations of treason, arguing that his client had only collected information already available from public sources.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The decision to identify the expelled diplomats publicly is unusual. Governments often withhold the names of diplomats ordered to leave in espionage cases.<\/p>\n
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