According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, in recent months the Russian embassy in Rome made withdrawals of around 4 million euros from its bank accounts. The newspaper adds that it “rang a bell” at the Bank of Italy, which informed the country’s secret services and the relevant parliamentary committee.

“This move is not justified by the financial sanctions, given that the bank accounts of the embassies did not suffer special restrictions“, writes La Repubblica.

At the same time, he adds that “the possibility that the embassy workers had to be paid in cash is not convincing and that “the most worrying, and perhaps more realistic case, is that it is money related to a more complex strategy, which provides for the collection and channeling of informationn”.

The Italian newspaper also writes that part of this huge amount may have been used “to pay “influencers” to support the Kremlin’s positions and influence Italian public opinion» but also that there were also individuals, possibly within the armed forces, who may have revealed – against financing – sensitive information.

For example, about new weapons.