An officer of the Italian navy was arrested in flagrante delicto of espionage for the benefit of Russia, together with a Russian officer to whom he handed “classified” documents, Italian security forces said in a statement on Wednesday. .
“In the evening of yesterday” (Tuesday), the police “arrested an officer of the military navy, according to this press release, which specifies that a Russian officer was also arrested.
The operation, carried out under the supervision of the Italian counter-espionage and the defense staff, “targeted a frigate captain of the military navy and an officer accredited to the Embassy of the Russian Federation, all the two being accused of serious offenses concerning espionage and state security, ”specify the carabinieri. “The intervention took place during a clandestine meeting between the two men, caught red-handed after the transfer of classified documents by the Italian officer in exchange for a sum of money. The Italian officer has been arrested, but the Russian officer’s case is still under review due to his diplomatic status, the statement concluded.
Russian ambassador to Italy summoned
The Russian ambassador to Italy was summoned in the wake of the Foreign Ministry, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry “summoned, on the instruction of Minister Luigi Di Maio, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation Sergei Razov”, according to this press release. The revelation of this case comes at a time when relations between Russia and Europe are strained, for example because of the Navalny affair and several other cases of espionage: Moscow accuses the European Union of having a confrontational position against him, while the EU blames Russia for the deterioration of relations, urging it to “sustained progress” on human rights as well as “an end to cyber attacks” against its member states.
Thus, several German parliamentarians, including members of the Bundestag, the lower house, and other political figures have been the subject of a recent computer attack whose trail could go back to Russia, several German media said on Friday.
Likewise, Bulgaria announced ten days ago the expulsion of two Russian diplomats after the discovery of a suspected spy network for the benefit of Moscow, a decision which comes in a tense context between these two countries. In addition, a French officer stationed at a NATO base in Italy suspected of having provided highly sensitive documents to the Russian secret services was imprisoned in Paris in August.
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