Italy: Russia’s influence campaign dismantles vast network of Kremlin agents 

Russia steps up influence effort by GRU-SVR to minimize risks for Kremlin’s image over war crimes in Ukraine, the same model Moscow (GRU) used to spread disinformation about the causes of MH-17 crash. Russia runs that kind of disinformation campaigns as it seeks to avoid responsibility for crimes and breaking the rules of war as per international conventions, to set the stage for the sanctions to be lifted and deter transfer of blocked assets to Ukraine. For this effort, Russia engages agents of influence that are Italian nationals, like it used to do in Germany. This campaign confirms our findings about the reasons for withdrawing funds from the bank accounts of the Russian Embassy in Italy. The campaign is also a part of preparing for meddling in this year’s election to the European Parliament in the EU countries. It means Moscow most likely recovered from the blow to its intelligence capability, when intelligence officers under diplomatic cover had been expelled from Europe, as it retained the ability to use European nationals through military intelligence.

Diplomatic circles discuss an appeal by Ukraine over Russian propaganda campaign planned in the city of Modena, Italy, claiming that Mariupol, destroyed and occupied by Russian troops, is “rapidly renewed” now. This event drew attention as it is similar to some operations by Russian military intelligence in 2014-1019, with an extensive network of Kremlin influence agents uncovered in Italy, in an effort to discredit the U.S. for Europe.

The event, hosted by the Russia Emilia-Romagna cultural association, announces Kremlin propaganda narratives, spread by Moscow since 2014, with Luca Rossi, the President of the Association, Dmitry Shtodin, the Consul General of Russia, Eliseo Bertolasi, who represents the international Russophile movement in Italy, and Andrea Lucidi, the journalist, being among speakers.

The event is strongly similar to the one held by Russian military intelligence in the Netherlands in 2019 to affect the court decision in the MH-17 case.

L’Associazione Culturale Russia Emilia-Romagna was founded in 2014, which means it’s tasked with military and political support for the Kremlin in confronting the West. The association is most likely used by Russian intelligence to recruit agents, collect intelligence and run influence campaigns in Italy. The association is not registered as legal entity in the Emilia-Romagna region, to hide its activity and make the work more difficult for Italy’s counterintelligence. The association officially:

• justifies Russia’s war against Ukraine. It used social networks in early 2022 to post the arguments why the crisis in Ukraine cannot be resolved, and accused the U.S., which looked like preparing the people for the outbreak of war, with U.S. and NATO blamed for that, not Russia.

• draws the attention of Italians to economic challenges, to undermine trust in the Italian government.
• Advertised Russian drugs in 2021, labeled as covid-19 vaccine by Moscow, but deemed ineffective by most European nations. Russia used coronavirus outbreak in Italy for major radio surveillance effort there, together with biological material collection.
• Promotes anti-U.S. and anti-NATO sentiment. That means the association has a clear mission to meddle in Italy’s domestic affairs to shape public opinion for Kremlin’s sake. The association presented the anti-NATO book by FABIO FILOMENI “Die for NATO?” (MORIRE PER LA NATO) in 2023; hosted the event to celebrate victory in World War II, with Soviet and Russian symbols; held a memorial service for the daughter of Russian neo-fascist Dugin. The association glorifies the Wagner group on social network, while it is recognized by the U.S. and Europe as a terrorist and criminal group responsible for war crimes in various parts of the globe. The association is in contact with the Italian far-right League for Salvini Premier.  Luca Rossi, the president of the association, failed to run for the Parliament of Modena in 2019-2020 from the right-wing populist party Northern League (Lega Nord). Due to the failure of the election, Rossi went to cooperate with the Russians to pay for the election campaign’s expenses, and satisfy political ambitions. The RLI analysts, when studying the activity of Russian intelligence in Italy under diplomatic cover, have already paid attention to the ties between Matteo Salvini, the ex-Deputy Prime Minister of Italy, and the far-right Lega Nord party’s leader, and Alexandr Dugin, Russian neo-Nazi. That explains the link between the Italian agents of Russian influence and Dugin, who works closely with Russian military intelligence.

Andrea Lucidi, as his Facebook profile says, studied at the University of St. Petersburg, and was recruited there. He lived in Lugansk for more than a year and visited the DPR from time to time, as an agent of influence used by Russian military intelligence.

1. He approves the taking over of Donbas, has been to Mariupol several times, and filmed reports about new buildings, simply ignoring the destroyed areas. Lucidi reported on the Middle East, with support for the HAMAS. We believe Russian military intelligence arranged and financed his business trip to Lebanon. Having studied his reports, we may say his task was to collect and spread information that could be seen as Israel’s war crimes. Lucidi, against this backdrop, compares some cases in Israel and Ukraine, asking why sanctions have not been imposed on Israel. Lucidi, that way, completes the tasks by Russian military intelligence, as he blurs and shifts focus from Russian war crimes in Ukraine to the developments in the Gaza Strip. L’Associazione Culturale Russia Emilia-Romagna also shapes public opinion to support Palestine and HAMAS in confronting Israel, which confirms the link between Palestinian attack on Israel and Moscow. The association, on its Facebook page, spread disinformation about American biological weapon developed in Ukraine, which confirms the findings that Russia involves this association in information campaigns.

1. Eliseo Bertolasi has been part of the international Russophile movement since July 2023, which is a network of organizations Russia set up in March 2023, targeting to expand influence abroad. The movement is a cover for the work of Kremlin influence agents. 4 months between the movement’s launch and Bertolasi’s appointment as its head in Italy indicate he has been in touch with the Russians for a long time. All this time he was in contact with Russia’s Consul General Dmitry Shtodin, who, we believe, is an SVR officer under diplomatic cover. Shtodin also oversees the MARX21 association that promotes communist ideas and anti-American narratives. We assume Russia’s influence network in Italy is to step up ahead of European Parliament elections, to support the candidates lobbied by Russian intelligence in Italy.
2. Eliseo Bertolasi had connections with Russian chauvinist and neo-Nazi Aleksandr Dugin, who is often called the “ideologue” behind Putin’s regime. He is also a frequent collaborator with the Strategic Culture Fund, which is associated with the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation. Starting from 2014, he has been active in Russian information campaigns in Italy. He supported the DPR and LPR militants. He worked for the Sputnik, Russia’s propaganda media tool affiliated with Russian intelligence, to have a cover to operate in Donbas.  
3. Bertolasi was declared an observer from Italy for sham elections and referendums in the DPR in 2018 and 2022, ignored by Rome, and that goes in line with his functions as an influence agent. He was interviewed by Andrea Lucidi, which means they interact to implement Russian influence campaigns. Bertolasi also cooperates with the Roscongress Foundation, established by President Putin’s decree in 2007 to lobby for Russia and run influence campaigns.Bertolasi is also a geopolitics expert who works for Vision & Global Trends – the Platform for Future Issues and Challenges, chaired by Tiberio Graziani, suspected of having ties to Russian intelligence. He worked for the International Life media outlet in Moscow, used by Russian foreign intelligence. He expresses strong anti-American views.