Russia Intensifies Hybrid Warfare Campaign Against Italy

On 14 March 2025, Decode39 report­ed that Rus­sia has sig­nif­i­cant­ly esca­lat­ed its hybrid war­fare efforts in Italy, com­bin­ing cyber­at­tacks, dis­in­for­ma­tion, and influ­ence oper­a­tions to under­mine Rome’s sup­port for Ukraine. The arti­cle begins:

Rus­sia is ramp­ing up hybrid war­fare in Italy, com­bin­ing cyber­at­tacks, dis­in­for­ma­tion, and influ­ence oper­a­tions to weak­en Rome’s sup­port for Ukraine and desta­bilise its insti­tu­tions. The Krem­lin’s tac­tics include direct ver­bal attacks on Pres­i­dent Mattarel­la, tar­get­ing Ital­ian acad­e­mia, and lever­ag­ing ide­o­log­i­cal nar­ra­tives through fig­ures like Alexan­der Dug­in. Italy remains a prime tar­get due to its geopo­lit­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance and inter­nal divisions

A tar­get­ed offen­sive. Rus­sia is inten­si­fy­ing its hybrid war­fare cam­paign in Italy, blend­ing cyber-attacks, dis­in­for­ma­tion, and influ­ence operations.

• The goal: weak­en Rome’s stead­fast sup­port for Ukraine, exploit insti­tu­tion­al divi­sions, and erode pub­lic con­sen­sus around Italy’s Euro-Atlantic alignment.

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Key Points:

• Russ­ian-linked hack­ers have tar­get­ed Ital­ian gov­ern­ment web­sites while Krem­lin offi­cials ver­bal­ly attack Pres­i­dent Mattarella.
• Italy’s For­eign Min­is­ter Anto­nio Tajani has sum­moned the Russ­ian ambas­sador in a rare diplo­mat­ic rebuke.
• Ital­ian uni­ver­si­ties have become soft tar­gets with screen­ings of Russ­ian pro­pa­gan­da and plat­form­ing of pro-Krem­lin figures.
• Alexan­der Dug­in is attempt­ing to dri­ve wedges in Italy’s gov­ern­ment by sug­gest­ing PM Mel­oni’s “true” align­ment is with Russia.