On June 17, the Italian La Repubblica confirmed the findings by our Institute that the initial purpose the Russian mission had in Italy last year, mid-COVID-19-crisis, was a recon mission by Russia’s Defense Ministry.
Russia took hold of the fact that Italy’s security agencies were distracted by the epidemiological situation in the country and eased up on counterintelligence security for military infrastructure.
The main task for the Russian group was to snoop for information on two key NATO military facilities in Italy. Intelligence operatives from Russia studied the area of Brescia, as fighters are stationed there, together with bomb shelters by the Italian aeronautics. American nuclear weapon storage arsenals at Ghedi-Torre were of interest to them too.
As we sought to identify the equipment the Russians brought to Italy, we failed to identify four vehicles with installed modules. At the moment, those vehicles were most probably provided with SIGINT and MASINT systems.
The Russian convoy drove 600 miles from the base of Pratica di Mare near Rome toward Lombardy, our analysts noted. The logic might seem meaningless to many, since there are at least four airfields within 100 km around Bergamo, capable of receiving Candid-type cargo aircraft (Il-76). But technical reconnaissance in the province of Bergamo clarifies the need for the long ground march by the Russians.
The second task for Russian intelligence was to collect biological material from Italian citizens infected with Covid-19, as well as to study the course of the disease and measures taken in Italy – to be applied in Russia.
This April, the Italian police detained a captain of the Italian NAVY and a Russian officer working at the embassy in Rome, as they passed classified information. The Italian’s name is Walter Biot, and he served for the General Staff, ANSA claims. He took pictures of classified documents from a computer screen and uploaded them to a USB flash drive, and was going to give to the Russian officer. The documents he intended to hand over to Russia related to the Italian Army and NATO efforts. Two Russian officials were named as Dmitry Ostroukhov and Alexei Nemudrov. Ostroukhov worked for the military attaché officeat the Russian embassy. Nemudrov was an air and naval attaché. Thus, they both represented the GRU.Nemudrov was considered the second-most-important personality at the embassy after the ambassador. In March 2020, he was notably in charge of coordinating the logistics of Moscow’s COVID-19 aid operation to Italy, “From Russia With Love”.
Nemudrov had been building a wide web of relations in Italy, including with influential politicians like Gianluca Savoini (IlPost, July 11 2019), the former spokesperson of the “League” party of Matteo Salvini and the founder of the Lombardia-Russia Association (Repubblica, April 2, 2021).
Russian intelligence tries to use Italy as a back door for illicit Russian activity in the EU. That confirms Russia’s interest in Italy’s defense capability. As many as 80 Russian diplomats in Italy work for the GRU, the FSB and the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Aisi claims. That is a third of diplomats accredited in Italy.
