Italy’s defence minister has stated that there is no indication of Russian involvement in the August 13 explosion at a munitions factory near Rome, describing the incident as an internal problem.
Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto told the Italian news agency Adnkronos on August 17 that authorities had seen nothing to suggest the blast at the KNDS Ammo Italy plant in Colleferro, southeast of the capital, was anything other than an internal matter.
“There is no indication to anyone that this could be anything other than an internal problem,” he said.
The explosion occurred on August 13 after firefighters had already been called to tackle a fire at the site. It left a crater about 10 metres wide and one and a half metres deep and was heard several kilometres away, according to Italian media reports.
No injuries were reported. The plant was shut for the summer holiday period and only 24 maintenance workers were on site.
The plant, operated by a subsidiary of the Franco-German defence group KNDS, produces medium- and large-calibre ammunition for land and naval systems as well as solid propellants for aerospace launch vehicles.
The blast struck the powder-pressing department. Early witness accounts reported by the Italian news agency ANSA pointed to a press that exploded during processing, though the cause could be established only once the fire was out and forensic teams could enter.
KNDS Ammo Italy is the former Simmel Difesa, bought from Britain’s Chemring Group in 2014 by the French State-controlled Nexter Systems, which merged with Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann the following year to form KNDS. An explosion at the Colleferro works in 2007, when the company was still Simmel Difesa, killed one worker and injured 13 others.
The Italian Government has not commented on reports that the facility produces ammunition destined for Ukraine and investigations by the authorities continue.
Speculation about possible Russian sabotage had circulated in the days following the blast, fuelled in part by social media activity linked to Russian sources and by a similar incident at an ammunition facility in Bulgaria three days earlier.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported on August 17 that prosecutors in Velletri were examining potential links between the Colleferro explosion and recent incidents at ammunition plants in Bulgaria. Investigators contacted by Reuters declined to comment.
The case has been opened on the basis of culpable disaster against persons unknown. Carabinieri from the Rome provincial command, working with the force’s RIS forensic unit, have examined what remains of the powder-pressing department, with Velletri chief prosecutor Carlo Villani coordinating the inquiry.
The most recent Bulgarian incident took place on August 10 at a depot run by EMCO near the village of Belica, in the Tryavna municipality of central Bulgaria. A lorry caught fire and the blaze spread to an ammunition store, setting off a series of explosions.
About 300 workers were evacuated and no one was hurt. Bulgarian interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said the cause appeared to be internal and the company pointed to human error.
EMCO is owned by Emilian Gebrev, who was poisoned in Sofia in April 2015 with an organophosphate compound of the Novichok family. Bulgarian prosecutors in 2020 charged three suspected officers of Russia’s GRU military intelligence service over the attack and have linked alleged Russian agents to earlier blasts at depots holding his company’s munitions.
Opposition politician Carlo Calenda, leader of the centrist Azione party, called on the government to brief parliament, stating that authorities should clarify what happened as soon as possible.
“We cannot remain in uncertainty over a possible Russian hybrid attack,” he wrote on social media.
Calenda said such an attack would be the gravest ever carried out on Italian soil and among the most devastating in Europe, and pointed to the coverage given to the blast by Moscow’s television channels.
Copasir, the Italian parliamentary committee for the security of the Republic, is following the case and is in contact with the Italian intelligence agencies, Adnkronos reported.
KNDS said the circumstances of the incident remain under investigation and that it was not in a position to confirm the cause or the exact sequence of events.
Colleferro mayor Giulio Calamita said the relatively low number of staff on site, due to the summer holiday period, helped avoid casualties, and that damage in the nearest residential area was limited to broken windows. He has said he leans towards an accidental explanation.
The Russian embassy in Italy has not commented.
BREAKING:
A large explosion and fire hit a munitions plant in Colleferro, south of Rome, Italy.
The blast occurred at the plant owned by the major Italian defense manufacturer KNDS Ammo Italy, which produces medium- and large-caliber ammunition and solid rocket fuels.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 13, 2026
