(ANSA) - ROME, APR 1 - The wife of an Italian Navy officer accused of passing classified military documents to Russian officials has said he was "desperate" because of the family's economic situation.
    She also said that any material he handed over would not have compromised national security.
    Italy on Wednesday expelled two Russian officials after frigate captain Walter Biot was allegedly caught handing over documents on NATO telecommunications for 5,000 euros to an official late on Tuesday.
    They were named Thursday as Alexey Nemudrov, Russian embassy naval and aeronautical attaché, and Dmitri Ostroukhov, an employee in the same office at the Rome embassy, who was the man caught with Biot in a Rome car park Tuesday night.
    Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio described the espionage as a "hostile act of extreme gravity" on Moscow's part.
    "He had truly been in (a state of) crisis for some time because he was afraid that he would not be able to face up to the all spending we have," Biot's wife Claudia Carbonara told Thursday's Corriere della Sera.
    "We have been impoverished by COVID.
    "My husband did not want to screw the country, if you will excuse my language.
    "And he did not this time either.
    "I assure you that he gave the minimum he could give to the Russians. Nothing compromising.
    "He is not stupid or irresponsible.
    "He was just desperate. Desperate about our future and that of our children".
    Carbonara told Corriere that Biot's salary of 3,000 euros was not enough to cover mortgage payments of 1,200 euros plus paying for the four children's after-school activities - one of whom has a serious handicap - as well as the family's four dogs.
    Biot exercised his right to remain silent during questioning by a preliminary investigations judge on Thursday.
    Explaining his decision, he said "I'm stunned and disoriented but ready to clear up my position".
    Biot was remanded in custody.
    The custodial warrant said so far 181 photos of classified documents had been found on the memory stick Biot allegedly gave Ostroukhov, including nine 'top secret' documents and 47 'NATO Secret'.
    The warrant said Biot was involved in the projection of Italian defence assets into foreign operational theatres and also in NATO, EU and UN operations.
    The judge said Biot betrayed the trust of Italian institutions for financial gain and had "no scruples" in doing so.
    The judge also said that Tuesday's handover was not an isolated incident, and that Biot was "dangerous", using four smartphones and other ruses to pass on classified information.
    On Wednesday the Russian embassy said Ambassador Sergey Razov expressed his "sadness" about the decision to expel the pair and "the hope that what happened does not affect Italian-Russian relations".
    The Russian foreign ministry told ANSA that it was "saddened" by the expulsions.
    "We are examining the circumstances of this decision," the ministry said.
    "We will make an announcement about our possible steps in relation to this measure, which does not correspond to the level of bilateral relations".
    However, Interfax quoted Alexiei Cepa, the vice president of the Duma's international affairs committee, as saying Russia's response to the expulsions would be "symmetrical". (ANSA).