Zakharova against journalist Frittella: "Rai should apologize for post on missile against Kremlin"

Moscow expects an "official apology" from RAI and an intervention by the Italian government, denouncing a post on X by a journalist of the state radio and television who called for a missile launch on the Kremlin. This was said by the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova , quoted by the Tass agency.

Zakharova is referring to the post that appeared a few days ago on the profile of the director of Communications and Institutional Relations of RaiCom Marco Frittella , in which - referring to the possible presence in Moscow of Vladimir Putin, Bashar al Assad and Ali Khamenei - one could read: "A well-placed missile would be enough. I would only be sorry for the domes of the Kremlin". A comment from which Frittella immediately dissociated himself, again on X, denouncing "violations" to his profile.

Zakharova's request

"We expect an official apology from the management of RAI," Zakharova said, speaking at a briefing with journalists, "but I think that official Italian representatives should also speak out and say that this is not the norm for Italy. This is unbridled behavior." The spokeswoman added that the post "was deleted after a few hours, because there was such criticism and protests among the people against this monstrous logic that, apparently, it became embarrassing, or scary, or unpleasant."

"Despite this," Zakharova continued, "we do not consider this incident closed, because it can be classified as a crime, as well as a public call for extremist activity, or a public call for terrorist acts, a public justification of terrorism or propaganda of terrorism." The spokeswoman said that the fact that these statements were made by a representative of the state broadcaster "shows that the situation of freedom of speech in Italy has reached a truly frightening stage."

Frittella's defense

The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry is referring to a post that appeared in recent days on the Rai journalist's account X. The latter had immediately reported that his account had been hacked. "My profile X is being violated: someone is commenting and sending messages in my name. I dissociate myself from what was published here. Those who know me know that for me PEACE is an absolute value, and I want this message to reach everyone loud and clear", Frittella wrote.

"With reference to the issue of the tweet that appeared on my profile X and was attributed to me, I would like to explain that that tweet is the result of a violation of my account by unknown persons and about which I have filed a complaint with the Carabinieri", he added.