Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova arrives for a press conference with the Saudi foreign minister in Moscow, 4 July 2025. Photo: EPA / Evgenia Novozhenina
Italy’s Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned the Russian ambassador to Rome after Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova made comments linking the partial collapse of a medieval tower in the Italian capital to the country’s support for Ukraine.
Reacting to news of the tragedy at the 13th-century Torre dei Conti, which killed a worker and seriously injured one more, Zakharova implied it had occurred because the Italian government had allocated funds to Ukraine instead of to ongoing restoration work on the tower.
“As long as the Italian government continues to waste its taxpayers' money, Italy will collapse completely, from its economy to its towers”, Zakharova wrote in a Telegram post.
In response, the Italian Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Alexey Paramonov to lodge a formal complaint over Zakharova’s remarks, which it called “squalid, worrying words" that "confirm the abyss of vulgarity into which the Moscow leadership has plunged”.
“No one in Italy, no one at all, would ever think of rejoicing, of speculating on an incident, a tragedy in which we, as Italian people, are all still involved”, a Foreign Ministry statement read, news agency ANSA reported.
“Italy will always, and in every case, express solidarity and friendship for the weakest, for those in difficulty, for those under attack”, it continued. “That is why we support the Ukrainian people”.
Zakharova later told Russian state news agency TASS that Paramonov’s summoning would give him the opportunity to “remind everyone once again that sponsoring the terrorist Kiev regime is a crime and a sin”.
This is not the first time Rome has summoned the Russian ambassador over comments made by Zakharova, who for years has enjoyed trolling the West with her unvarnished scorn for European values and institutions.
In March, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani summoned Paramonov after what he called Zakharova’s “umpteenth verbal attack” against Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who criticised Russia for promoting a “dangerous nuclear narrative” against the West amid its war in Ukraine.
That incident came just a month after Zakharova threatened “consequences” after Mattarella gave a speech comparing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the actions of Nazi Germany.
