The article appeared the day after another suspicion of espionage. As it turned out, the drone of most likely Russian production has late flown at least 5 times over the European Union investigation centre in Ispra on Lake Maggiore, northern Italy. This centre deals with safety issues. It is besides close to 1 of the office of the Italian arms company. The investigation into the drone's presence initiated the Milan D.A.'s department to fight terrorism.
"Il Messaggero" besides recalls that last November, an investigation was initiated against 2 entrepreneurs from Brianza, Lombardy, who gave the Russians maps of zones in Rome and Milan, where there are no surveillance cameras. These maps besides indicate state buildings and military facilities. According to the newspaper, Italian entrepreneurs were paid in cryptocurrency.
Examples of Russian activities
In addition, a group of pro-Russian hackers have repeatedly launched attacks on the websites of Italian ministries, airports and strategical enterprises. The attacks were accompanied by reports that it was a retaliation for the government’s position in Rome, which provides support to Ukraine,” writes the Roman newspaper.
A peculiarly drastic case is the captain of the Italian frigate Walter Biot, arrested in 2021 at the time of passing NATO classified information to Russian agents. He was sentenced to 29 years in prison.
According to ‘Il Messaggero’, many signals about ‘the shadow war’ or hybrid war by Russia concern the Mediterranean. The Russian spy ship "Jantar", specializing in mapping underwater cables and gas pipelines, was located on this watershed between Sicily and Algeria.
In December 2022, a Russian ship, the Academic of Pastin, docked in the Strait of Otranto at the banks of Apulia precisely above the gas pipeline and fibre cable that was moving there, connecting Bari to the coast of Greece. A Russian supply ship was suspected to be carrying out spy activities.
In January of that year, a Russian submarine “Krasnodar” was found in the waters between Algeria and Sardinia. Italy picked up aircraft from bases in Sicily and Sardinia to monitor the movement of the unit.
These examples, noted ‘Il Messaggero’, show that ‘Italy is under constant observation’ from Russia. This is peculiarly actual of the Mediterranean, where the Russian war fleet is constantly active. For this reason, these waters are constantly supervised by Italian and NATO forces. “It is an invisible but permanent network. And it was she who located the anonymous drone over Ispra," the diary states.
