Italy orders two Russian diplomats to leave over spy investigation

Italy has expelled two Russian military attachés from the Russian Embassy in Rome over alleged espionage activities, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani said.

Tajani announced the decision in a post on X, saying the expulsions followed an investigation by the Rome public prosecutor's office that uncovered what he described as espionage activities linked to the two diplomats.

"The Italian government has decided to expel two military attachés of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Italy, responsible for espionage activities uncovered during an investigation by the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office," Tajani said.

He added that the secretary-general of Italy's foreign ministry had informed the Russian ambassador that the two officials, identified as Ivan Petrovich Gorbachev and Mikhail Vasilyevich Astakhov, must leave Rome within three days.

Tajani accused Moscow of continuing to use "hybrid tools" against Italy and its Western allies, describing the alleged activities as "serious and unacceptable interference" in Italy's institutions and national security.

The expulsions come after Italian authorities arrested two former intelligence officers who had worked at the Ministry of Defence for more than a decade on suspicion of passing classified information related to national security to Russia.

By Aghakazim Guliyev