ROME, March 31. /TASS/. A staff member of the Russian Embassy in Italy has been detained in Rome, the Russian diplomatic mission confirmed on Wednesday.

"We confirm that on March 30 an employee from the military attache's office was detained in Rome. The circumstances of the incident are being clarified. We believe it is inappropriate to comment on the incident at the moment. In any case, we expect that the incident won’t affect Russian-Italian bilateral relations," the Embassy said.

Earlier, the command of the Special Operations Group (ROS), part of the Italian Carabinieri, reported that an Italian serviceman and a Russian officer working in the Italian capital had been detained upon a warrant of Rome’s prosecutors. According to the statement, the Italian citizen has been placed in custody while checks have been launched to confirm the diplomatic status of the foreign citizen. The ROS specified that the detention took place on Tuesday when confidential documents were being handed over in exchange for money. "Those detained are a Navy captain and an officer working for the Russian embassy, who are accused of espionage and posing a threat to national security," the statement said.

Russian Ambassador to Italy Sergey Razov was invited to the republic’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday in connection with the case.