Two Lombardy Entrepreneurs Spied for Russia

According to Il Giorno, the prosecutor’s office in Milan, Italy, has announced the start of a case against two individuals accused of espionage activities in favour of Russia.

The Milan prosecutor’s office claims that the suspects, Italian citizens residing in Lombardy, have been cooperating with Russian intelligence services since the beginning of 2023. They provided the Russians with “sensitive” information, including classified documentation, photographs of military facilities, and information on specialists in unmanned systems and electronic security.

The head of Milan’s anti-terrorism pool, deputy prosecutor Eugenio Fusco, explained that the two suspects, both Italians, would have had their base “in upper Lombardy.”

As expected, the searches conducted on the two individuals revealed Russian intelligence’s interest in mapping the video surveillance systems of Milan and Rome, with a particular focus on the “grey zones,” or areas of the city that are not covered by cameras. Furthermore, the two entrepreneurs allegedly proposed to Milan’s taxi cooperatives the installation of dash cams on their cars at no cost.

According to reports, the two entrepreneurs were lured by some Russian citizens, with whom they then communicated through a Telegram channel (a messaging platform created in Russia). In exchange for the transmitted information, they received payment in cryptocurrency.

During searches of the suspects’ residences, Italian law enforcement discovered evidence of espionage activities, claims the Milan prosecutor’s office.

We have previously reported multiple times on the intensification of Russian espionage and sabotage activities in Europe since the launch of a barbaric full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including Slovenia, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, France, UK, Germany, Sweden, Hungary to name a few.