Why it matters. On the opening day of the Milan–Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, an apparent act of sabotage on Italy’s rail network disrupted travel across much of the country — undercutting Italy’s Olympic showcase and exposing a familiar vulnerability in Europe’s critical infrastructure.
What happened. Italian rail traffic between Bologna and Pesaro was severely disrupted after what investigators believe was a deliberate attack on railway infrastructure.
- Delays, cancellations, and rerouted trains rippled across central and northern Italy, affecting thousands of passengers just as global attention turned to the Games.
The investigation. Prosecutors are treating the incident as intentional sabotage, with early investigative focus on anarchist-linked environments.
- No group has claimed responsibility so far, and authorities say no hypothesis is formally ruled out. A case is expected to be opened against unknown suspects on charges including terrorist association and attacks on transport security.
The bigger picture. Even before attribution is settled, the political meaning of the episode is already clear.
- A familiar playbook: strike the periphery on a symbolic day.
- What happened in Italy echoes a precedent set in France on July 26, 2024, the day of the opening ceremony of the Paris Summer Olympics.
- While Paris itself was locked down under unprecedented security, saboteurs struck far from the capital — targeting seemingly minor but strategically vital points of the high-speed rail network.
- Between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., SNCF signaling and electrical infrastructure was damaged or set on fire at multiple locations, including Courtalain, Pagny-sur-Moselle, and Croisilles. A fourth attack near Vergigny failed only because maintenance workers happened to be present.
The immediate effect. High-speed rail services collapsed on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Stations clogged, international routes slowed, delays stretched up to two hours, and dozens of trains were cancelled.
- SNCF described the operation as “massive, coordinated, and aimed at paralyzing the network.” French authorities acknowledged the deliberate nature of the attacks while avoiding early attribution.
The cyber angle. At the same time, Italy faced a wave of cyberattacks. Pro-Russian hacker group Noname057(16) claimed responsibility for DDoS attacks targeting Italian embassy websites, Olympic-related platforms, and services linked to transport and hospitality during the opening phase of the Games.
- Officials say the cyber incidents are being investigated separately from the rail sabotage. Still, the timing matters. Physical disruption and digital attacks overlapped at a moment of peak international visibility — a reminder that modern pressure campaigns increasingly operate across multiple domains, without crossing the threshold of open escalation.
Attribution is hard. Impact is instant. In both France and Italy, the key commonality is not the confirmed identity of the perpetrators — still under investigation — but the choice of target.
- Rail networks are vast, difficult to fully secure, and essential to both daily life and the success of mega-events. Hitting them creates maximum systemic stress with minimal force.
- The objective is not mass destruction but strategic disruption, forcing the state to react publicly, reassure internationally, and explain failures at a moment of peak visibility.
- It exploits the asymmetry between heavily guarded symbolic sites and diffuse, exposed infrastructure.
Sabotage as political language. The parallel between Paris 2024 and Milan–Cortina 2026 points to a broader trend:
infrastructure sabotage as an asymmetric political tool.
- In a Europe marked by hybrid threats, fragmented radicalism, and increasingly opaque external interference, major international events act as amplifiers. Even temporary disruptions raise questions about state resilience and the protection of critical systems.
The bottom line. Regardless of eventual criminal responsibility, the disruption of Italy’s rail network on the opening day of Milan–Cortina 2026 is more than a news event.
- It fits a wider European pattern — one that links domestic sabotage, cyber operations, and sub-threshold pressure tactics into a single strategic landscape. And that landscape extends well beyond national borders.
