Italian authorities dismantled a Russian espionage network in Rome that aimed to gather information on Western air defense systems provided to Ukraine, Defense News reported. A Russian spy ring in Italy Italian police surveilled a suspected officer of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) during interactions with an informant. The investigation recorded requests for data regarding the European Samp-T system, which has been transferred to Kyiv, and the Michelangelo Dome, an air defense system developed by the Italian company Leonardo that is scheduled for testing in Ukraine in November.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Investigators tracked the Russian national, identified as Mikhail Astakov, a military attaché at the Russian embassy in Rome. Astakov held meetings with Gavino Piras, a 59-year-old former employee of the Italian secret service. Piras was arrested this week alongside another former Italian intelligence worker. According to the investigation, Piras recruited informants within the Italian military to provide classified information requested by Astakov. Five suspected informants are currently under investigation. Court documents state that Astakov provided Piras with lists of information requests during clandestine meetings. In exchange, Astakov received microSD cards containing the gathered data, which were left in a designated dead drop in a wall. Astakov paid €4,000 ($4,500) in cash for each data package.