In a speech last week, President Sergio Mattarella criticised the "wars of aggression" that led to World War Two. "This was the project of the Third Reich in Europe. The current Russian aggression against Ukraine is of this nature," he said.

Reacting to those statements, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova lambasted Mattarella's remarks as "blasphemous inventions" and then the attacks began.

Several key national services, including airports, public transport, and banking systems, were targeted in what pro-Russian hacker groups claim was ‘retaliation’ for Italy’s support of Kyiv.

The attacks, primarily Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), aimed to overload servers and disrupt operations. While they did cause temporary disruptions, they failed to inflict significant damage on critical infrastructure.

The National Cybersecurity Agency (NCA) intervened, alerting affected institutions and implementing countermeasures to mitigate the attacks. Among the targets was Intesa San Paolo, one of Italy’s largest banks, which confirmed that its systems remained operational despite some precautionary security checks.

While the attacks were serious, the swift response from cybersecurity authorities helped prevent widespread damage, highlighting the surprising resilience of Italy’s digital defences.

However, the incident underscores the ongoing cyber threats posed by pro-Russian groups and the necessity for continued vigilance against such politically motivated cyber warfare.

Italy has been onside with Russia politically and economically for years. However, under the current Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, it has firmly stood by Ukraine, including providing military aid.