Italy’s leaders, attacked on migrant tragedy, blame Russians

By FRANCES D’EMILIO
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Italy’s leaders, on the defensive after a smugglers’ boat shipwrecked meters from an Italian beach, are contending that Russian mercenaries in Libya are behind an uptick in arrivals as part of an alleged strategy to retaliate for Western support for Ukraine. Analysts have quickly dismissed that scenario, raised this week by Italy’s defense minister. Separately U.N. migration officials have also described as unrealistic Italian intelligence assessments warning that hundreds of thousands of migrants could soon set out by sea from Libya for Italy. Meloni contends she is blameless for the Feb. 26 shipwreck, whose known death toll rose to 80 on Tuesday with the recovery of a man’s body.