{"id":117762,"date":"2026-07-20T19:24:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T16:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disinfo.md\/putins-response-to-meloni-russia-expels-two-italian-diplomats\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T11:24:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T08:24:58","slug":"putins-response-to-meloni-russia-expels-two-italian-diplomats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disinfo.md\/en\/putins-response-to-meloni-russia-expels-two-italian-diplomats\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin&#8217;s response to Meloni: Russia expels two Italian diplomats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>After Italy expelled two Russian military attach\u00e9s, accused of espionage, Russia sends home an Italian military attach\u00e9 and one of his advisors.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;This is a blatant act of retaliation, following the expulsion from Italy of two Russian military attach\u00e9s, caught red-handed engaging in espionage activities detrimental to our national security,&#8221;<\/em> conveyed the head of Italian diplomacy, Antonio Tajani.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On July 9, Italy announced the expulsion of two Russian spies, who allegedly operated in the country under diplomatic cover, writes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news.ro\/externe\/moscova-expulzeaza-un-atasat-militar-italian-si-pe-unul-dintre-colaboratorii-sai-roma-denunta-un-act-flagrant-de-represalii-1922403320592026071822523589\">news.ro.<\/a> The authorities in Rome described their actions as a <em>&#8220;serious and unacceptable interference&#8221;.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the Italian dailies <em>La Repubblica<\/em> and <em>Il Messaggero<\/em>, at least one of the two Russian agents collected, in exchange for sums of money, information about the Franco-Italian anti-aircraft defense system SAMP\/T, which Ukraine is set to receive this year for testing.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Russian spy was also interested in the NATO mission in Bulgaria, as well as the Italian company Avio, which produces engines for drones and supersonic missiles.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After Italy expelled two Russian military attach\u00e9s, accused of espionage, Russia sends home an Italian military attach\u00e9 and one of his advisors. &#8220;This is a blatant act of retaliation, following the expulsion from Italy of two Russian military attach\u00e9s, caught red-handed engaging in espionage activities detrimental to our national security,&#8221; conveyed the head of Italian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":109569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1135],"tags":[16213,16214,11397,14963,18467],"class_list":["post-117762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-foreign-affairs-en","tag-diplomats","tag-expulsion-2","tag-italy","tag-russia-2","tag-spies-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - 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