Russia ‘offers €15m for assassination of Italian minister’

ITALY’S defence minister has been warned of a €15million (£13.15million) bounty put on his head by Russia.

Guido Crosetto has been a staunch critic of the Kremlin since the war in Ukraine and this week he accused the Wagner Group of driving migrants from Africa to Italy as part of a “clear strategy” to destabilise the country.

Italian intelligence services discovered there was a “hit” out on Mr Crosetto10 days ago, according to Il Foglio.

The assassination could be carried out by Wagner cells based in Serbia or Estonia, the Italian daily claimed.

So far this year more than 20,000 migrants have arrived on Italian shores – triple the numbers of the same period last year.

Responding to the “bounty” accusations, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary outfit, called Mr Crosetto “a d------d”.

The minister yesterday downplayed the reportson Twitter. “I do not feel threatened and I am sure that there are no bounties on my head.

“If there were risks or threats of such gravity, I’m sure I would have been informed,” wrote Mr Crosetto.