Anti-personnel and anti-tank mines Italian placed on Ukrainian territory for hit the Russian army. This is the accusation launched on Twitter, complete with photos, by the Russian Embassy in Italy with which the Federation attacks Rome guilty, according to them, of having supplied weapons that will cause victims “for a long time to come”. But the version of the embassy is debunked by the defense minister himself, Guido Crosettoexplaining that “the production of anti-personnel mines in Italy is discontinued more than 28 years ago with a moratorium by the Italian government and the subsequent law 374/1997 which definitively banned them starting from the accession of our country, one of the first signatories of the Treaty of Ottawa against anti-personnel mines. Furthermore, anti-personnel mines of Italian production have been only exported until the early 1990s“.
These Italian-made mines TS/6.1, ТS50 and TS/2,4 (MATS/2) were defused by Russian engineers on Ukrainian territory.
And how many of these «souvenirs dl’Italie» still remain there? People will suffer from it for a long time to come…
???? pic.twitter.com/Nknn5DDRgj
— Russian Embassy in Italy (@rusembitaly) January 9, 2023
On Monday, the accusation against the Italian government was released from the embassy’s Twitter profile. The post starts from a photo in which you can see some mines accompanied by the inscription of the Moscow diplomats: “These Italian-made mines TS/6.1, ТS50 and TS/2,4 (MATS/2) have been defused by Russian sappers on Ukrainian territory. And how many of these ‘Souvenirs of Italy‘ are they still there? People will suffer for a long time to come.”
But Crosetto’s public intervention denies the Federation’s version: “The Russian Embassy in Italy, like the Russian Foreign Ministry, on the alleged anti-personnel mines produced and sold by Italy lies knowing that he is lying – attacks the minister – The latest tweet from the Russian Embassy contains, in particular, deliberately misleading, untruthful and seriously disparaging information. An allusive and tendentious propaganda against our country which has always respected the rules of international law. It surprises the use of fake news and uncontextualized photos to induce the reader to draw completely false conclusions”. The defense attorney then explains his position: “The mines reproduced in the tweet (1 anti-personnel and 2 anti-tank) are reminiscent of Italian-made mines Valsella/Tecnovar – he explains – that they cannot be Italian for a multitude of reasons. First of all because the production of anti-personnel mines in Italy was interrupted more than 28 years ago with a moratorium by the Italian government and the subsequent law 374/1997 which definitively banned them starting from the accession of our country, among the first signatories of the Ottawa treaty against landmines. Furthermore, Italian-made anti-personnel mines were only exported until the early 1990s. The production license was also granted to other countries, as can be seen from the initials of the only landmine shown in the photo, a VS50 not produced in Italy but in the Far East. We warn Russia and its diplomatic terminals from continuing to spread false news on this matter”.
A version, that of Crosetto, also confirmed by the experts of Italian Peace and Disarmament Network who, through his campaign coordinator, Francis Vignarcahelps to clarify: “The photo of the Russian Embassy in Italy with Italian mines hypothetically defused in Ukraine only demonstrates the ‘long’ impact of weapons (some in particular), but it has nothing to do with recent military supplies – we read in a tweet – reports it Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines and Guido Crosetto rightly underlines it”.
Photo from the Twitter profile of the Russian Embassy in Italy