First wave of pro-Russian poster campaign reported in Pisa and northern Italian cities

Pisa was named among the cities reached by the first wave of a coordinated pro-Russian poster campaign that began in Italy in the summer of 2024. CNN, reporting on 13 September 2024, said the posters first appeared in northern Italy in June and had been seen in Verona, Modena, Parma, Pisa and several cities in the southern region of Calabria. The billboards carried the slogan that Russia is not an enemy, illustrated with a handshake in the colours of the Italian and Russian flags.

Some versions of the material, including those reported in Rome, added text opposing the funding of weapons for Ukraine and Israel and framing the message as a rejection of war. CNN reported that the campaign was paid for by associations that had formed to protest Italy's Covid-19 lockdowns, organised in Rome under the banner of Sovranità Popolare.

As an early appearance in the campaign's timeline, the Pisa posters fit a pattern of materials sharing near-identical graphics and wording that subsequently recurred in multiple Italian cities through the summer, drawing political controversy and, according to reporting, the interest of Italian intelligence into who was behind and financing the operation.

The Pisa posters represent part of the opening phase of a campaign assessed as pro-Russian influence activity that spread across Italy in 2024. Open-source reporting links the effort to associations rooted in anti-lockdown movements and to a centrally funded advertising push, though direct Russian state direction remains suspected rather than proven. The campaign reportedly drew scrutiny from Italian authorities, and this entry may be updated as further public findings emerge.