How Russia cherishes its propaganda friends in Italian media

Whenever Nello Scavo returns from Ukraine, he is overcome with frustration

- Lorenzo Tondo 

As a war correspondent for the Italian national paper Avvenire, he knows people will ask him: “Is it really as bad as they say?”

“Sometimes I think that only if I come back badly injured will people start taking me seriously,” he said. “It’s as if they don’t believe that Russia is massacring civilians. The problem is that Vladimir Putin has always enjoyed wide sympathy in Italian politics and public opinion.”

Although Italy’s far-right government is one of Ukraine’s staunchest European supporters, Russian propaganda and disinformation permeates the Italian media, with pro- Russian guests invited on popular talkshows. A survey by Ipsos in April revealed that almost 50% of Italians prefer not to take sides in the conflict.