Rome prosecutors expose Russian spy network at embassies in Italy and the Vatican
An investigation by the Rome prosecutor's office, published by the Italian newspaper Riformista, has exposed a network of Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover at Russia's embassies in Italy and the Vatican. Named suspects include GRU and SVR operatives tasked with espionage against NATO-linked targets, recruitment for sabotage, and monitoring of the Holy See's activities on Ukrainian children deported to Russia.
Key points
- Investigation was carried out by the Rome prosecutor's office and published by the Italian newspaper Riformista.
- Naval attaché Ivan Horbachov and deputy Mykhailo Astakhov were identified as key GRU figures and were expelled from Italy after two former Italian intelligence employees were arrested for passing secrets to Moscow.
- Embassy advisers Ihor Anikiev and Ihor Ovechkin were responsible for collecting data on Italian structures, with a focus on NATO-related military and technological systems.
- Second and third secretaries Anton Dyomin and Dmytro Morozenkov, linked to the GRU and SVR, are suspected of establishing contacts with cultural associations and businesses.
- According to journalists, Dyomin and Morozenkov also recruited citizens of Belarus and other Eastern European countries for sabotage against civilian and military infrastructure.
- Rome was reportedly used as a transit point for monitoring flows of Russian and Belarusian citizens entering the Schengen zone on Italian visas.
- Attaché Konstantyn Nemudrov, posted at the Russian embassy to the Vatican and son of a Russian officer expelled in 2021, is reportedly tasked with gathering information on the Holy See's humanitarian initiatives and on Ukrainian children deported to Russia.
Why it matters
The investigation names specific suspected GRU and SVR officers operating openly under diplomatic cover in a NATO member state and at the Vatican, linking them to espionage against NATO-linked targets and to recruitment for sabotage across Europe. It also surfaces reported tasking against the Holy See on a politically sensitive issue for Kyiv: Ukrainian children allegedly deported to Russia. The timing underscores a broader pattern, as Germany's military counter-intelligence has publicly warned that Russian espionage and hybrid threats against European states are intensifying.
What happened
The Rome prosecutor's office, in an investigation published by the Italian newspaper Riformista, identified a network of Russian intelligence officers at Russia's embassies in Italy and the Vatican. Naval attaché Ivan Horbachov and his deputy Mykhailo Astakhov were named as key operatives linked to the GRU, the Main Directorate of the Russian General Staff; both were expelled after two former Italian intelligence employees were arrested on charges of transmitting confidential data to Moscow. Embassy advisers Ihor Anikiev and Ihor Ovechkin were identified as responsible for collecting information on Italian institutions, with a focus on NATO-related military and technological systems. Second and third secretaries Anton Dyomin and Dmytro Morozenkov, linked to the GRU and to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), are suspected of establishing contacts with cultural associations and businesses, and according to journalists also recruited citizens of Belarus and other Eastern European countries for sabotage against civilian and military infrastructure. Rome was reportedly used as a transit point for monitoring flows of Russian and Belarusian citizens entering the Schengen zone on Italian visas. The Vatican's Russian-embassy attaché Konstantyn Nemudrov — the son of Aleksei Nemudrov, expelled from Italy in 2021 in the Walter Biot case — was reportedly tasked with collecting information on Holy See activities, including humanitarian initiatives and the situation of Ukrainian children deported to Russia. The Italian probe was triggered by the detention in Germany of a Belarusian citizen with a Russian passport suspected of preparing a drone attack on Leipzig airport.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
The Ukrainian-language sources cover the same set of facts without an observable divergence in emphasis, giving equal weight to the GRU/SVR network, the NATO targeting, Rome's reported role as a Schengen transit point, and the Vatican attaché's reported tasking on Ukrainian children deported to Russia.
How international sources describe it
The available sources are Ukrainian-language outlets; no separate international framing is documented in the synthesis beyond the Italian provenance of the underlying investigation.
Where reporting differs
Spelling of the named suspects varies between fact versions: 'Mikhail Astakhov' vs 'Mykhailo Astakhov', 'Igor Anikiev' vs 'Ihor Anikiev', 'Anton Dyonin' vs 'Anton Dyomin', 'Dmitry Morozenkov' vs 'Dmytro Morozenkov', and 'Konstantin Nemudrov' vs 'Konstantyn Nemudrov', reflecting two transliteration conventions for the same Russian names.
Background
The Italian investigation was triggered by the detention in Germany of a Belarusian citizen holding a Russian passport on suspicion of preparing a drone attack on Leipzig airport. Konstantyn Nemudrov's father, Aleksei Nemudrov, was expelled from Italy in 2021 in the Walter Biot espionage case, an earlier exposure of Russian intelligence activity on Italian soil. Germany's military counter-intelligence has publicly stated that Russian espionage and the broader hybrid threat to Germany are intensifying.