The Italian government has decided to expel two military attaches from the Russian embassy in Italy, who, according to the authorities, were involved in espionage activities, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said, quoted by ANSA and Reuters, BTA reports.
Earlier this week, two people were arrested on charges of passing secret information to a Russian agent. According to the prosecutor's office, the main suspect is a former carabinieri officer.
Five more people are also under investigation.
The daily newspapers "Repubblica" and "Messager" write, quoted by Agence France-Presse, that at least one of the two Russian agents collected - in exchange for money - information related to the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air defense system, which Ukraine is expected to receive this year for testing, as well as the Franco-Italian "Aster" missiles, which have already been delivered to Kiev.
The same agent was also interested in the NATO mission in Bulgaria, as well as in the Italian company "Avio", which produces engines for drones and hypersonic missiles.
"The Italian government has decided to expel two military attaches from the embassy of the Russian Federation in Italy, who are responsible for the espionage activity revealed in the investigation by the prosecutor's office in Rome," Tajani said in Ex. "The Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry has just informed the Russian ambassador in Rome that Ivan Petrovich Gorbachev and Mikhail Vasilievich Astakhov must leave Rome within three days."
"Moscow continues to use its hybrid means to attack the West and Italy," Tajani added.
"This is a serious and unacceptable interference in Italian institutions and national security."
Russia will react to Italy's decision to expel its attaches, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
The Rome prosecutor's office said on Tuesday that two people, including a former member of the Italian intelligence services, had been arrested on suspicion of passing classified information to a Russian agent.