Italy has initiated a new diplomatic crisis with Russia by expelling two military attachés from the Russian Embassy in Rome. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced that the military attachés Ivan Petrovich Gorbachov and Mikhail Vasilyevich Astakhov must leave the country within three days due to espionage activities.
In a statement on social media platform X, Tajani said that the investigation by the Rome Chief Prosecutor's Office had determined that the two Russian military attachés engaged in espionage. The minister stated, "Moscow continues to use hybrid methods against the West and Italy. This constitutes a serious and unacceptable interference in the functioning of Italian state institutions and a threat to national security."
The decision comes amid an espionage investigation launched in May 2025 that became public on July 7 with the arrest of two former Italian military intelligence personnel. According to the newspaper La Stampa, the arrested former intelligence officers Gavino Raul Piras and Vincenzo Di Pasquale are accused of spying for Russia in exchange for money. The suspects allegedly leaked to Moscow secrets regarding Italy's rearmament, NATO's defense structure, drone production facilities, long-range missile systems, military aid to Ukraine, classified state contracts, intelligence databases, and the military mission in Bulgaria.
In footage released by the Carabinieri, the suspects are shown being charged with "espionage aimed at obtaining prohibited information, illegally disseminating classified information, and unauthorized access to computer systems." The investigation also alleges that the suspects accessed classified information through four active-duty military personnel.
A similar espionage scandal occurred in Italy in 2021, when former frigate commander Walter Biot was caught red-handed handing over classified documents to Russian agents. Biot was sentenced to 29 years and 2 months in prison by a military court, and the sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in November 2024. At that time, Italy also expelled two Russian military attachés.
Russia's Foreign Ministry stated that Moscow would give an "appropriate response" to the expulsion of the two attachés.
