On the first full day of the Olympics in Italy, three railroad sabotage attacks occurred

On the morning of February 7, saboteurs damaged the railway infrastructure in and around the city of Bologna in northern Italy, causing disruptions to train traffic on the first full day of the Winter Olympics. This was reported by the country's Ministry of Transport, Reuters reports.

The police reported three separate incidents in different locations, which caused delays of up to 2.5 hours for high-speed, intercity and regional trains.

The ministry called it an act of "serious sabotage," adding that it was similar to the opening day of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Then the saboteurs attacked the TGV high-speed train network in France, causing transportation chaos.

After the incidents, the Italian state railroad company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) was forced to temporarily close its high-speed train station in Bologna, but by Saturday afternoon traffic was slowly returning to normal.

Law enforcement officials said that before dawn, a railroad cabinet with a track switch was set on fire near the city of Pesaro, located on the Adriatic Sea. A few hours later, damaged electrical cables for measuring train speeds were found in Bologna, and a primitive explosive device was found near the tracks at a nearby location.

A police spokeswoman said that no one has claimed responsibility for the incidents, which appear to have been coordinated.

Bologna is a major transportation hub for rail lines connecting the east and west of Italy, as well as a key hub connecting the south of the country with cities in the north, such as Venice and Milan.

The latter is a co-organizer of the Winter Olympics along with the alpine resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo, which can be reached by train from Venice.

• on February 4, the Italian Foreign Minister said that the Russian-led cyberattacks, to the country's embassies and Olympic venues had been repelled.
• On the evening of February 6, Italy hosted Olympic opening ceremony.
• The next day, Milan was engulfed in rallies, with about 10,000 people taking to the streets to protest the cost of housing and environmental issues. A group of about 100 protesters threw firecrackers, smoke bombs and bottles at the police after it moved away from the main mass of demonstrators.
• Prime Minister Maloney called the protesters "enemies of Italy and Italians".