In a sharp escalation of diplomatic tensions between Rome and Moscow, Italy has ordered the immediate expulsion of two Russian military attaches found to be engaged in espionage activities on Italian soil, senior government officials confirmed Thursday. The move comes just 48 hours after Italian law enforcement announced the arrest of two former Italian intelligence agents, who local media reports are accused of leaking highly sensitive military information related to Italy’s support for Ukraine to Russian handlers.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani made the announcement of the expulsions official via a post on social media platform X, confirming the identities of the expelled diplomats as Ivan Petrovich Gorbachev and Mikhail Vasilyevich Astakhov. Tajani said the pair have been given a three-day deadline to leave Italian territory, noting they were directly tied to the espionage ring uncovered by prosecutors in Rome.
In his statement, Tajani issued a firm condemnation of Moscow’s actions, saying: “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.”
The espionage investigation unfolded after Rome police revealed the arrest of the two ex-agents earlier this week. Details released by law enforcement show one of the detainees, a 59-year-old former Italian intelligence operative, was regularly paid by a Russian handler. Over the course of his collaboration, he passed classified information through a network of six sources, four of whom are currently active-duty military personnel assigned to high-security posts, police said.
Local media reports have shed further light on the scope of the leaked information. The network allegedly passed details to Russia about the SAMP/T, a joint Italian-French air defense system, along with Aster missiles that Rome planned to deliver to Ukraine for field testing in 2024. Russian handlers also sought intelligence on a NATO deployment based in Bulgaria and Avio, the major Italian defense manufacturer that produces engines for military drones and supersonic missiles, according to the reports.
Leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera added that the 59-year-old suspect also disclosed the identities of Italian counter-espionage agents assigned to monitor Russian intelligence operatives working in Italy. Another major national outlet, La Stampa, reported that the former agent shared thousands of separate intelligence documents with his Russian contacts over a 12-year period of collaboration, based on recordings of the suspect’s phone conversations seized by investigators.
A legal representative for the former agent has rejected all accusations of treason against his client. The lawyer claims the suspect only collected information that is already available in the public domain, and the former agent is scheduled to undergo formal questioning by investigators on Friday.
Details of the second arrested Italian ex-agent, including their identity and the specific accusations against them, have not been released to the public as of Thursday.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto framed the uncovered ring as just a small part of a much larger pattern of Russian activity earlier this week, saying the case is “just the tip of the iceberg” of Moscow’s ongoing hybrid warfare campaign across Europe amid its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This is not the first such diplomatic clash between Italy and Russia in recent years. In 2024, an Italian court sentenced a serving Italian navy captain to prison after he was caught selling classified documents to the Russian embassy. That incident also resulted in Italy expelling two Russian officials, followed by Moscow retaliating with the expulsion of one Italian diplomat from Russia.