A deep new diplomatic crisis has erupted between Italy and Russia. The Italian government has ordered the immediate expulsion of two military attachés operating out of the Russian Embassy in Rome, identified as Ivan Petrovich Gorbachev and Mikhail Vasilyevich Astakhov. The decision was officially announced via a social media post by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who explained that the two officials were identified during a major investigation led by the Rome Prosecutor's Office as being directly responsible for espionage activities on national soil.
The Secretary General of the Farnesina has already notified the Russian ambassador, ordering the two diplomats to leave the Italian capital within a strict three-day deadline. "Mosca continues to use its hybrid weapons to attack the West and Italy," Tajani stated bluntly in his release, calling the incident "a grave and unacceptable interference with Italian institutions and national security."
The Kremlin's response was swift. The Russian Foreign Ministry, speaking through the state news agency Ria Novosti, immediately countered the Italian government's move, promising that Moscow "will respond" to Rome's decision. While no specific details were provided regarding the nature of this preannounced countermeasure, tensions between the two countries remain at an all-time high.