Italian city halts event appearing to promote Russian war in Ukraine

ROME (Reuters) - The Italian city of Modena on Tuesday blocked the use of a public hall to host a private event on the reconstruction of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, saying it appears to openly support Russia's war in Ukraine.

Mariupol, a port on the Sea of Azov in southern Ukraine, was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the early stages of Moscow's invasion in 2022. It had been almost completely destroyed by shelling when Russia captured and occupied it in May 2022 after a protracted siege.

The conference and exhibition "Mariupol. Rebirth after the War", organised by the Russia Emilia-Romagna cultural association, aims to showcase the city's reconstruction with invited panelists including the Russian consul general in Milan, Dmitry Shtodin, according to the organisers' website.

The council in Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region, withdrew its approval to use a civic hall for the Jan. 20 event after "new information arose", it said in a statement.

It added that the makeup of the panel did not appear consistent with the commitment not to practise fascist and racist ideologies, and it violates Italy's commitment to promote peace and international relations.

Ukraine's ambassador, Yaroslav Melnyk, had called it "an open insult to the memory of thousands of civilian victims".

The decision protects "the community from the spread of Russian propaganda in Italy", the Ukrainian embassy in Rome said on the X social media platform.

The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Rome and the Russia Emilia-Romagna cultural association did not reply to requests for comment.

Events sympathetic to the Russian cause are multiplying in Italy, with Italian lawmaker Lia Quartapelle, of the centre-left Democratic Party, warning of a "cultural offensive of pro-Putin associations".

"Italy is on the side of Ukraine's freedom," she wrote on X.

On Monday, Italian-Russian organisation Vento dell'Est said it would reschedule another conference, featuring Russian ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugin, after the venue became unavailable.

The event "Towards a new multipolar world" will not take place at the Grand Hotel Guinigi in the Tuscan city of Lucca on Jan. 27, Best Western Italia said on X, without providing details.

"Our lawyer is considering the request for damage," Vento dell'Est said on its Telegram channel in response to the cancellation.

(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, editing by XXX)