AL HAYAT - Italy foils Russian cyberattacks targeting Olympics

Political leaders, including US Vice President JD Vance, are expected to attend Friday's opening ceremony, and security has become a fraught topic after it emerged that agents from a controversial US immigration enforcement agency would be present.

Italy's interior minister Matteo Piantedosi stressed Wednesday that the agents from ICE would have an advisory role only.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arm will operate within US diplomatic missions only and "are not operational agents" and "have no executive function", he told parliament.

Just hours before the first sporting events, which begin Wednesday, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy has "foiled a series of cyberattacks" of "Russian origin".

The attacks were "on foreign ministry offices, starting with Washington, and also some Winter Olympics sites, including hotels in Cortina", he said during a trip to the US city.

His office did not provide further details. AFP requested comment from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Some 6,000 police plus nearly 2,000 military personnel are being deployed across the Games area, which stretches across half a dozen sites from Milan to the Dolomites.

Bomb disposal experts, snipers, anti-terrorism units and skiing policemen are among those deployed, according to Piantedosi.

The defence ministry is also providing 170 vehicles plus radars, drones and aircraft.

The prospect of ICE agents, currently embroiled in an often brutal crackdown on illegal immigration in the United States, operating on Italian soil has sparked widespread outrage in the country.

Piantedosi noted it was standard for countries to send security officials to the Olympics, with Italy having sent them to Paris for the 2024 Games.

He said the anger over their presence, which included the Milan mayor warning they were not welcome in the city during the February 6-22 Games, was "completely unfounded".

- 'Strictly advisory' -

The HSI investigates global threats, including the illegal movement of people, goods and weapons, and is separate from the department carrying out the US immigration crackdown that has sparked widespread protests.

"ICE does not and will never be able to carry out operational police activities on our national territory," Piantedosi emphasised.

The US State Department said that the HSI has in the past taken part in other Olympic events.

The US ambassador to Italy, Tilman J. Fertitta, previously said the HSI will be "strictly advisory and intelligence-based, with no patrolling or enforcement involvement".

"At the Olympics, HSI criminal investigators will contribute their expertise by providing intelligence on transnational criminal threats, with a focus on cybercrimes and national security threats," he said last week.

But the row continues. A pop-up hospitality house organised by US Figure Skating, USA Hockey and US Speedskating at a hotel in Milan has even changed its name from "Ice House" to "Winter House".

Several protests have been planned for the opening weekend of the Games, focusing on their environmental impact as well as the politics of the event.

Pro-Palestinian activists are planning a demonstration during the arrival of the Olympic flame in Milan on Thursday, to protest Israel's participation in the Games due to the war in Gaza.

Demonstrations are also expected to coincide with the opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro stadium on Friday, with a further march planned in the city on Saturday.

One protest organisation in Milan calls itself the Unsustainable Olympics Committee -- a play on the official International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Critics of the Winter Games complain about the impact of infrastructure -- from new buildings to transport -- on fragile mountain environments, as well as the widespread and energy-intensive use of artificial snow.

K.Sharhan--al-Hayat