Kremlin’s cultural tentacles still poison Italian debate

This new Russian campaign has sparked protests from the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian community in Italy, as well as some local politicians.

The impetus was an announcement about a conference entitled “Rebirth of Mariupol” scheduled for January 20th in the northern Italian city of Modena. Organized by a little-known organization called the Emilia-Romagna Russian Cultural Association, the event featured speakers including Dmitry Stodin, the Russian consul general in Milan, and two pro-Russian Italian bloggers.

Descriptions on social media revealed propaganda purposes. Mariupol was described as “the urban symbol of the rebellion of the Donbas people against the Kiev military regime, the urban martyr of the Banderite occupation.” According to the organizers, the purpose of the event was to illustrate “the rapid recovery process led by the institutions of the Russian Federation.” [the city] It has become an essential part. ”

Anyone can find a true story using an Internet search engine. Mariupol, a port city of 425,000 people on the Sea of ​​Azov, was besieged by Russian forces for 11 weeks in the spring of 2022.

This destruction and the indifference of Putin’s military, which used heavy artillery barrages against civilian areas, was extraordinary. No one has counted the number of dead left on the streets for weeks and ultimately buried in mass graves. But Mariupol authorities said they believed at least 22,000 people had died.

“It is pitch black inside the city. The only light comes from the Russian army and Russian patrols,” Petro Andriushchenko, an advisor to the mayor, said in May 2022. “Everywhere you go, you smell death and fire.”

The city’s destruction has become a symbol of Russia’s war of aggression and Ukraine’s suffering, and its crucifixion is the subject of a powerful documentary film. 20 days in Mariupol.

So when Italy’s Ukrainian community (approximately 400,000 people) heard the news of the Modena talks, they, like many Italians, rose up in arms. Ukraine’s ambassador, Yaroslav Melnyk, wrote an open letter to Modena’s mayor, Gian Carlo Musarelli, head of the center-left Democratic Party, asking him to cancel the event scheduled to be held at the city-owned community center. I rented it for an event.

Melnyk recalled Russian war crimes in Mariupol, including the bombing of a maternity hospital and a theater theater, and the continued deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied cities. “We are considering this event… a blatant insult to the memory of thousands of civilian victims and a manifestation of Russian propaganda,” he said.

Modena’s mayor, Gian Carlo Muzzarelli, was initially reluctant to take action. He argued that the hall’s lease was purely commercial and not indicative of city support. “The Russians paid for the use of the hall, that’s all,” he told an Italian newspaper. Corriere della Sera.

However, the event was ultimately canceled following Ukraine’s official reaction to the event and extensive media coverage.

The events in Modena might be dismissed as isolated incidents if they were not part of a coordinated effort. At least three similar events were scheduled to take place across Italy in January alone, in Milan, Bologna and Lucca. And while some future Russia friendly events are currently canceled, others will likely take place.

One of them featured Alexander Dugin as an online guest. A neo-fascist academic, he was close to the Kremlin, a supporter of Eurasianism, and incited the genocide of Ukrainians. The other is dedicated to his late daughter, who was also a propagandist and died in a car bombing.

The events were organized by another pro-Russian “cultural association” believed to be linked to Italy’s far-right movement. Elements of Italy’s far-right and populist right have long been accused of economic and political ties to the Kremlin (see here and here).

So what did we learn? The Mayor of Modena’s initial refusal to act is a shame as many in Italy still believe that Russian disinformation is not a real threat, in the interests of the Kremlin’s influential agents. It shows the facts. Meanwhile, organizers of pro-Russian events have appealed for democratic rights and freedom of speech in response to criticism. The irony of this Russia-created absurdity is too often overlooked.

There is ample evidence that Russia is waging war not only on the battlefield, but also in the information and cyber spheres. And this has implications for the West as well. Allowing Kremlin disinformation agents to operate freely has nothing to do with freedom of speech.

Downplaying this in 2024, following nearly two years of brutal war in Ukraine, accompanying industrial-scale genocidal propaganda, and multiple attempts to undermine Western democracies. To judge or ignore it is to be dangerously naive or complicit.

One might think that low-profile events like the one in Modena, organized by little-known organizations and featuring minor speakers, should be ignored and not taken seriously. But that is until we look at the bigger picture.

Russia has previously used Italy as a testing ground for a number of intelligence and influence operations aimed at weakening democracy and dividing the EU and NATO.

In 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Italy, then ruled by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of the Five Star Movement, arrested a large-scale Russian influence operation against its country: “humanitarian convoys” of military vehicles. It was the only country that allowed it. Large-scale pro-Russian propaganda campaign.

Russian disinformation is proliferating in Italian mainstream media. After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Russian officials such as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and propagandists in Russian state media had plenty of room to deny Russian war crimes and spread lies about Ukraine. Given the.

Prominent Italian journalists have questioned the massacre committed by Russian forces in Bucia, but have never apologized, even though ample evidence of the devastation has emerged. Italian politicians from both extremes are too supportive of the Kremlin. Some Italian companies are still active in Russia and are believed to be supporting the Russian war machine.

It must be said that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, like her predecessor Mario Draghi, has been a firm supporter of the fight for Ukraine and Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

However, by investigating the funding and activities of shadowy pro-Russian “cultural associations,” as well as possible connections to multiple bloggers and so-called “independent journalists” who legitimize Russian war crimes and spread disinformation. , could be even more helpful. Honest debate is needed to raise public awareness, especially among politicians and opinion leaders.

There’s a lot you can do, but it all starts with recognizing the problem.

Olga Tokariuk is a non-resident fellow at CEPA. She is a journalist, disinformation researcher, and fellow at the Chatham House Ukraine Forum.

edge of europe is CEPA’s online journal covering important topics related to foreign policy in Europe and North America. All opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the positions or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.