Italy expelled two Russian diplomats yesterday after police said they caught an Italian navy captain passing classified documents to a Russian military official in exchange for money.
An Italian captain and a Russian embassy employee were arrested in a parking lot in Rome and charged with "serious crimes related to espionage and state security" after a meeting on Tuesday night, police said.
The suspects were not officially identified, but a police source said that the captain's name is Walter Biot and that he took 5 euros in exchange for information. The Ansa news agency reported that NATO documents were among the documents passed on by the captain, raising security concerns for other members of the Western military alliance.
Italy immediately summoned the Russian ambassador, Sergei Razov, and expelled two Russian officials believed to be involved in the case.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said that this is an "extremely serious matter".
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