A targeted offensive. Russia is intensifying its hybrid warfare campaign in Italy, blending cyber-attacks, disinformation, and influence operations.
- The goal: weaken Rome’s steadfast support for Ukraine, exploit institutional divisions, and erode public consensus around Italy’s Euro-Atlantic alignment.
Tactics in play. For weeks, Russian-linked hacker groups have targeted Italian government websites and key infrastructure in retaliation for Italy’s military and diplomatic backing of Ukraine.
- Meanwhile, the Kremlin has escalated its rhetoric, with Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova launching a second verbal attack on President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella within a month.
Italy is not taking this lightly. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani condemned the Kremlin’s move, calling Mattarella “a man of peace and a symbol of national and European unity.”
- In a rare diplomatic move, Tajani ordered the Russian ambassador in Rome to be summoned—a strong signal of Italy’s institutional firmness.
- Russia aims to test Italy’s institutional compactness, particularly the unity between Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose alignment with Ukraine has provided Italy with rare strategic coherence.
The battle for academia. Italian universities have become soft targets for Russian influence operations:
- The University of Turin screened Maidan: la strada verso la guerra, a Kremlin-backed documentary sanctioned by the EU.
- The event featured Vincenzo Lorusso, a journalist tied to International Reporters, a media outlet funded by Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, per Reporters Sans Frontières.
- Roma Tre University hosted Giorgio Bianchi, identified by Italian intelligence as a “pro-Russian propagandist” active in Ukraine.
- The same university suggests as coursework material the writings of Nicolai Lilin, a controversial figure known for threats against journalists and violent rhetoric.
Dugin’s ideological offensive. In a recent interview with Il Fatto Quotidiano, the famous anti-Western Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin framed Italy’s populist leadership as having “betrayed” its true roots by aligning with the EU.
- He suggested Meloni, by backing US President Donald Trump, is also naturally aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- “She wants back on the winning team,” Dugin argued, portraying her as returning to her “original political DNA.”
This is not just propaganda. It is part of a systematic Kremlin strategy to infiltrate Western cultural and intellectual institutions, legitimise Russia’s war narratives, and destabilise European unity.
- Russia’s disinformation thrives in Italy by exploiting NATO scepticism, media ambiguity, and academic openness.
- Italy remains one of Moscow’s prime targets in Europe due to its geopolitical importance and internal political polarisation.
