Italy initiates investigation on Kremlin disinformation

Italy is investigating Kremlin disinformation, suspecting Russian commentators on Italian TV may be connected to Putin. Debate arose over airing Russian views since the Ukraine invasion, with some accusing networks of supporting propaganda. The investigation was prompted by comments from Sergei Lavrov denying events in Bucha and accusing the Ukrainian president.

A parliamentary committee in Italy has initiated an investigation into the spread of disinformation, on the grounds of suspicions that some Russian commentators hosted on television networks could be on Vladimir Putin’s payroll. Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Rai and other TV channels have regularly hosted Russian journalists to debate the war. As a consequence, there has been a heated political debate in the country between those who accuse the networks of giving space to “propagandists” and those who believe it is only right to air the opinions of those on both sides of a conflict. However, the inquiry follows an interview of Sergei Lavrov, who dismissed the massacre in Bucha as fake news and accused the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is Jewish, of being a Nazi.