“Divorzio” Stile italiano: come la propaganda russa ha messo radici in Italia e promuove le narrazioni del Cremlino

**Russia has been using non-linear propaganda methods in Europe since the start of the war. Italy occupies a special place here, where various organizations created by pro-Russian figures exert influence on society. Because of this, the country has been shaken by scandals – for example, around the concert of Putin’s propagandist Valery Gergiev, which was cancelled at the last minute. It turned out that various associations loyal to Moscow’s policies have been created and are functioning in many regions of Italy. “Vot Tak” found these organizations and found out who is the conductor of Russian influence on the Apennine Peninsula.**

Modena is a small city in the Emilia-Romagna region. Its famous natives include opera singer Luciano Pavarotti and Enzo Ferrari, the creator of the world-famous car brand.

In January 2024, a scandal erupted in Modena: the local organization Associazione Culturale Russia Emilia Romagna (Cultural Association “Russia – Emilia-Romagna”) decided to hold a propaganda event to show how Mariupol was allegedly undergoing a “rapid recovery process”. The announcement included narratives typical of Russian propaganda: “popular uprising in Donbass”, “Kiev junta”, “bandit occupation for eight years”, and so on. The event was to be attended by the Russian Consul General in Milan Dmitry Shtodin, who was to present ” the Modenese public with the results of the restoration of Mariupol ” by the Russian occupation authorities.

Ukrainian activists spoke out against this, and as a result, the Modena authorities banned the exhibition.

However, as Vot Tak found out, the Cultural Association “Russia – Emilia-Romagna” has been actively promoting all Russian narratives for a long time and is engaged in overt anti-European and anti-NATO propaganda.

**Pro-Russian cultural communities**

The Russia-Emilia-Romagna Cultural Association has existed since November 2014, when the first post was written on its website about how Western sanctions against Russia, imposed due to the annexation of Crimea, are having a devastating effect on the Italian economy. The example cited is the region’s losses due to the cessation of exports of agricultural crops and dairy products to Russia, primarily Parmesan. However, the text does not mention that it was Moscow, not the West, that banned the import of hard cheeses to Russia.

Since then, the association has been actively promoting the Russian “patriotic” agenda. Every year, activists hold the “Immortal Regiment” events, celebrate Russia Day (June 12), and similar events. On their website, they do not hesitate to take liberties with history and justify the crimes of the USSR authorities. Thus, in one of the Association’s latest articles , the blame for the Holodomor is shifted to “kulaks” and deserters from collective farms, who “killed cows, horses, and bulls.” The famine in the early 1930s in the Ukrainian SSR is also attributed to the “laziness of the peasants,” who “did not want to cultivate the land, believing that it was common land and that their neighbor would take care of the harvest.”

“They thought about making their neighbors work, because everything was common. They did not know that the common result depends on everyone,” the article says.

Vot Tak has found at least ten such “public organizations” in Italy. For example, in the city of Como in the Lombardy region, there is the Associazione Russia Como ( Association “Russia — Como”). On its website, its members state that they have been operating since 2015 and are engaged in “the dissemination of culture, art and education, as well as socio-cultural integration.” The association aims to “expand knowledge of Russian and Italian culture through contacts between people, organizations and associations.”


True, among the organization’s projects there was room to distribute announcements of documentaries from the propaganda TV channel Russia Today. In a post on Facebook, the organization also reported on the action “Russia is not our enemy,” in which pro-Russian activists hung posters in cities with the message that Russians and Italians “should be friends.” The posters included a quote from the Italian Constitution: “We want peace and reject war.”

about this action in detail In Russia, the Literaturnaya Gazeta wrote . However, the scale of the event was greatly exaggerated by the author of the article, Italian Marinella Mondaini, who lives in Moscow. She stated that similar posters appeared in “hundreds of cities and municipalities” in Italy. Vot Tak found no confirmation in open sources that the action was as large-scale as Mondaini presented it.

The Sovranità popolare (People’s Sovereignty) movement took responsibility for hanging the posters in different regions of Italy. They published an article on their website calling on anyone who wanted to join the action and hang the posters in different cities. In a CNN article about it , it was stated that Sovranità popolare organized the action, but the rental of the places to hang the posters was paid for by some “associations created in the country to protest the lockdowns during COVID-19.”

The pro-Russian Associazione Culturale Veneto Russia (Cultural Association “Veneto – Russia”) also acknowledged its involvement in the “Russia is not our enemy” campaign. told KP about this in an interview. Its director Palmarino Zoccatelli

The non-profit organization Libars APS from the city of Udine has also been noted for promoting Russian narratives. On their website, their representatives report that their mission is to “talk about the difficulties” that “haunt our families during this period.” “We propose promoting various activities aimed mainly at psychophysical well-being, cultural preparation, and extracurricular education of new generations,” they write about themselves. Most of the organization’s materials are devoted to alternative medicine and biology.


However, Libars APS provided a platform for showing RT films about Russia’s war with Ukraine, about the Euromaidan protests , and an interview with Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Chechen unit of the Russian National Guard “Akhmat”. The formal organizer was the Coordinamento FVG per la Pace (Coordination “Friuli-Venezia-Giulia for Peace”) movement, but it was Libars APS that provided the platform and advertised the screenings on its website and social networks.

The cultural association Pramantha supports Russia and fights against the Western world. Its members write about this directly in the profile header on Facebook and on their website . In addition, the main page of the Pramantha resource displays pictures of Dostoevsky, Vysotsky and the main character of the film “Brother” Danila Bagrov with “patriotic” quotes.

The Pramantha Arte association’s division is an art gallery, its main activity being related to art and exhibitions. However, this does not prevent it, like other pro-Kremlin “cultural associations”, from advertising screenings of RT documentaries and publishing comments from representatives of the Russian embassy in Italy. For example, the statement of the Russian diplomatic mission regarding the cancellation of a concert by Valery Gergiev or accusations against Italian media that they do not condemn Ukraine for the murder of General Igor Kirillov in Russia.


Probably the most odious propaganda group on Facebook is Idea Russa Associazione Culturale (Cultural Association “Russian Idea”). It is filled with posts with anti-Western propaganda, glorification of Vladimir Putin, accusations of dictatorship against Vladimir Zelensky. The group’s administrators actively engage in disputes with users in the comments, defending the pro-Russian point of view.

Lorusso has a large channel Donbass Italia with 42.5 thousand subscribers. Andrea Lucidi has more modest numbers – only 18.6 thousand accounts are subscribed to him.

Traditori!