An Italian media outlet has published details of an investigation by the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office that uncovered an alleged network of Russian spies operating through Russia’s embassies in Italy and the Vatican.
According to Riformista, prosecutors identified naval attaché Ivan Gorbachev and his deputy Mikhail Astakhov as key figures in Russian intelligence activities, linking them to the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. Both were expelled from Italy on July 9 following an investigation by Rome prosecutors into the transfer of classified information to Russia. According to the investigation, Gorbachev and Astakhov were key figures in Russian espionage operations in Italy.
“They carried out the most visible part of these activities. Their interest was not limited to the military sphere; they also sought information and contacts where decisions are made and where issues concerning Italy’s security are defined and discussed,” the report said.
The investigation by the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office led to the arrest of two former Italian intelligence officers accused of providing classified information to Moscow.
The investigation found that the diplomats identified were only part of a larger structure extending into key defence, public and religious institutions in the country.
According to the investigation, Russian Embassy advisers in Rome Igor Anikiyev and Igor Ovechkin were responsible for gathering information on Italian institutions, with particular attention to military and technological systems linked to NATO. Anton Dyomin and Dmitry Morozenkov, the embassy’s second and third secretaries respectively, were also named in the investigation and described as having links to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and military intelligence.
Their activities reportedly focused on contacts with Russian cultural associations, Italian businesspeople operating in the Russian market and other individuals whose professional or personal connections could provide access to information and relevant circles.
According to journalists, they were also involved in recruiting citizens of Belarus and other Eastern European countries to carry out acts of sabotage against civilian and military infrastructure.
Prosecutors also found that Rome was used as a transit point for monitoring the movement of Russian and Belarusian citizens entering the Schengen Area on Italian visas.
According to journalists’ sources, Konstantin Nemudrov, an attaché at the Russian Embassy to the Vatican and the son of Alexei Nemudrov, who was expelled from Italy in 2021 in connection with the Walter Biot espionage case, is continuing his father’s work.
His alleged task is to gather information on the activities of the Holy See, particularly sensitive humanitarian initiatives and the situation involving Ukrainian children deported to Russia.
