Italy expelled two Russian military attachés responsible for espionage uncovered by Rome prosecutors, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on 9 July. The two officers of Russia's embassy have three days to leave the country. The move caps a week in which Italian authorities arrested two former intelligence officers accused of selling state secrets to Moscow.
Two attachés, three days
Ivan Petrovich Gorbachev and Mikhail Vasilyevich Astakhov must leave Rome within three days, Tajani wrote on X. The Foreign Ministry's secretary general informed the Russian ambassador of the decision.
"Moscow continues to use its hybrid weapons to attack the West and Italy. A serious and unacceptable interference for the Italian Institutions and for national security," Tajani wrote.
Russia is waging a long war against the West. Switzerland’s spies say it is escalating.
The spy case behind the expulsions
The expulsions follow a counterintelligence investigation that the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office launched in May 2025. On 7 July, authorities arrested two people on charges of passing classified information to a Russian agent — one who holds diplomatic immunity in Italy.
Prosecutors named the suspects as Gavino Raoul Piras and Vincenzo Di Pasquale, both 59, both former Italian intelligence officers. Reuters reported that the main suspect previously served in the Carabinieri police force. Five other people are under investigation, including four military personnel suspected of gathering state security information.
The suspects allegedly received money for the secrets. La Stampa reported they are believed to have passed details on rearmament plans in Italy, the EU, and NATO, the locations of drone-production facilities, and information on military aid to Ukraine.
Russia's Foreign Ministry told the state news agency Tass that Moscow "will give an appropriate response" to the expulsions.
