Pro-Russian posters appear in Rome reading 'Stop funding weapons' and 'Russia is not our enemy'

In the week before 12 September 2024, pro-Russian posters appeared on billboards in central Rome. Each carried the slogan "Russia is not our enemy" above an image of a handshake painted in the colors of the Italian and Russian flags, with the further wording "Enough money for weapons for Ukraine and Israel. We want peace. We reject war," a line invoking Article 11 of the Italian Constitution. CNN reported the posters had first surfaced in northern Italy in June and had since spread to cities including Verona, Modena, Parma, Pisa and parts of Calabria.

The group Sovranita Popolare said it organized the Rome campaign and stated that the billboards were paid for by associations originally formed to protest Italy's COVID-19 lockdowns. Italian outlet Il Riformista reported that the Rome affissioni were commissioned by Domenico Aglioti, a former municipal councillor and early Five Star Movement figure previously associated with no-vax and anti-5G positions; it noted the cost without confirming who ultimately financed it.

Rome's mayoral office ordered the posters removed because they carried the city's name and official symbol, though one billboard reportedly remained at Piazza Mazzini after the order. Ukraine's embassy said it was "deeply concerned by the arrogance of Russian propaganda in the Eternal City" and asked the city to reconsider the permits. As reported by L'Indipendente, the case prompted Italia Viva senators Enrico Borghi, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee COPASIR, and Ivan Scalfarotto to file a parliamentary question.

The posters carried Kremlin-aligned anti-aid messaging, but the visible organizing was domestic: Sovranita Popolare claimed the Rome campaign and an Italian ex-councillor was named as commissioning the affissioni, with funding traced to former anti-lockdown associations. No reporting established Russian state direction or financing; the connection to Moscow is suspected and remains a matter of parliamentary and media scrutiny rather than proven coordination. The action fits a broader European pattern of low-cost, locally fronted influence campaigns that amplify pro-Russian narratives while keeping any state hand deniable.