Italy orders expulsion of two Russian military attachés after spy ring uncovered
Italy on Thursday ordered the expulsion of two Russian military attachés from its embassy in Rome, accusing Moscow of “serious and unacceptable acts of interference” after prosecutors uncovered a spy ring that had funnelled classified military secrets to Russia.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani named the diplomats as Ivan Petrovich Gorbachev and Mikhail Vasilyevich Astakhov, giving them 72 hours to leave the country. “Moscow continues to use hybrid warfare to attack the West and Italy,” Tajani wrote on X, adding that the expulsions followed the arrest of two former Italian intelligence officers accused of passing Moscow details on military aid to Ukraine.
Rome police said one of the detained Italians, a 59-year-old former officer, had been paid by a Russian handler and disclosed “thousands” of items of information over 12 years through six sources, including four serving military personnel with high-level clearances. According to media reports, the material included details of the SAMP/T air defence system—an Italian-French system due to be delivered to Ukraine this year—and the Aster missiles already in Kyiv’s arsenal. Russian handlers also sought intelligence on a NATO mission in Bulgaria and the Italian company Avio, which produces motors for drones and supersonic missiles. The suspect allegedly provided the identities of Italian counter-espionage agents tasked with monitoring the Russians.
Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto called the case “just the tip of the iceberg” in what he described as Russia’s hybrid war across Europe. In 2024, an Italian court jailed a navy captain for selling classified documents to the Russian embassy.
Across the border, a Polish court sentenced a Russian activist and his wife to prison for spying on behalf of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and plotting to send a parcel bomb. Igor Rogov, a former employee of the now-defunct Open Russia, received seven years for gathering intelligence on Polish-based Russian opposition figures and activists and passing it to the FSB. His wife, Irina Rogova, was jailed for three years for aiding and abetting.
Prosecutors said Rogov had collected information on individuals and institutions supporting Russian dissidents, including employees of Poland’s foreign ministry, and transmitted it via an electronic storage device handled by his wife. Rogov told investigators he had acted under pressure, claiming FSB officers “knew everything” about him and threatening his father with conscription into the war in Ukraine. The couple were arrested in July 2024 and tried in closed session due to national security concerns.
Rogov and his wife had fled Russia after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and were granted refugee status in Poland. Their trial, which began in January 2026, heard that they had also participated in a plot to send a courier package containing explosives and a detonator, intercepted by authorities before delivery.
The twin cases underscore a widening pattern of Russian espionage across Europe as Moscow seeks to disrupt Western military support for Ukraine and suppress domestic dissent. In Italy, the expulsions triggered a pledge from Moscow to respond “adequately,” while in Poland the convictions highlight the risks faced by Russian exiles who cooperate with Moscow under duress.
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