The alarm was raised by the Bank of Italy, but the attention of Copasir, the Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic, is there and is present. According to a report yesterday by the Repubblica newspaper, a large amount has been withdrawn from two bank accounts of the Russian embassy in Rome since the war in Ukraine began. To be precise, reports the newspaper, we are talking about 4 million euros, in some cases even with requests at the counter around 100 thousand euros at a time. The Bank of Italy, in particular the Financial Intelligence Office, triggered alerts and in less than 18 months twenty suspicious reports were issued. The mechanism could suggest a strategy to circumvent sanctions and the freeze on Russian bank accounts active in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine. But this is not the case, as the restrictions have never affected the bank accounts of embassies. "The worst-case scenario, and perhaps the most credible," explains Repubblica, "is that the money withdrawn is the result of a more complex strategy that relies on information: receiving and conveying it." "Therefore, paying certain subjects in the black without leaving a trace, the targets in this case would be the armed forces or other vital sectors of the state that can provide, for a fee, relevant information, for example on new weapons," explains the newspaper. Or to pay "influencers, journalists or commentators to espouse the Kremlin's cause."