Failed Bombs Reveal Anarchist Cell Leaders in Italy and Greece 

Failed Bombs Reveal Anarchist Cell Leaders in Italy and Greece 

Executive Summary:

• Accidental bomb detonations in Italy and Greece have exposed resilient, decentralized anarchist cells that present a continued threat of violent militancy in southern Europe. 
• These clandestine networks feature small groups of experienced militants, romantic partners, former prisoners, and educated logistical supporters. Members frequently blur the lines between protest activism, ideological commitment, and armed criminality. 
• The operational threat remains unpredictable because these cells may avoid mass-casualty targeting, while still handling powerful devices whose premature detonation can produce lethal consequences.

On March 20, an explosion on the outskirts of Rome placed renewed attention on a militant anarchist fringe in southern Europe. Two anarchists were killed in the blast. The pair, Alessandro Mercogliano and Sara Ardizzone, were reportedly assembling a powerful but unstable bomb when it detonated, immediately raising questions about their intended target and the operational network around them (Corriere della Sera, March 20). The significance of the incident lies less in the blast itself than in the profiles it exposed. As with a similar accidental explosion in Athens on October 31, 2024, the case highlights small, clandestine militant circles in which experienced anarchist actors, romantic partners, former prisoners, and logistics supporters appear to overlap. The Rome and Athens cases show that long-standing anarchist militancy in Italy and Greece continues to generate operationally capable individuals even when cells remain small, fragmented, and prone to lethal errors.

Kyriakos Xymitiris: The Athens Bomb-Maker

On October 31, 2024, an explosion tore through a third-floor apartment in the Ampelokipi neighborhood in Athens. First responders found the dismembered remains of a male figure and a seriously injured woman. Authorities quickly suspected that the two had been constructing an improvised explosive device (IED). Greek officials later described the device as exceptionally powerful, with Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrisochoidis warning that the suspects were seeking to launch “a third wave, a third generation, of terrorism” in Greece (eKathimerini.com November 4, 2024).

Greek law enforcement identified the dead man as 37-year-old Kyriakos Xymitiris. His profile fits that of a militant activist with transnational movement experience rather than a peripheral sympathizer. He had previously been arrested in Germany for participation in anarchist activities and was identified after the blast through fingerprints in Europol’s international database (eKathimerini.com, November 2, 2024; ASAN Berlin, November 16, 2024).

Movement eulogies further clarified how Xymitiris was understood inside anarchist circles. A statement posted on Athens Indymedia described him as having been active for years in prisoner solidarity initiatives, anti-war and internationalist activism, the defense of Athens’ Exarchia neighborhood, university-related protests, squatted spaces, and broader social and class struggles. The statement said that he “always sought to explore the most radical dimensions of resistance alongside others” and “supported the diverse struggle for social liberation in theory” (eKathimerini.com, November 4, 2024). This profile suggests that Xymitiris occupied a bridging role between legal protest milieus, solidarity networks, and clandestine violence.

Marianna Manoura: Partner, Survivor, and Co-Defendant

The injured woman in the Athens apartment was 31-year-old Marianna Manoura, Xymitiris’s partner. Her profile illustrates the operational role of close personal relationships in these small militant cells. Manoura was a graphic designer with ties to left-wing causes and had met Xymitiris in Berlin. She had previously been arrested, including at a 2015 protest against Turkish Airlines. After returning to Greece in 2021, she and Xymitiris participated in protests, including an “act of solidarity” for imprisoned Turkish hunger strikers in 2022 (eKathimerini.com, November 1, 2, 11, 2024).

Greek authorities charged five individuals following the blast. The charges included establishing a terrorist group, procuring and possessing explosives, and causing an explosion. Manoura later issued an unapologetic statement defending her actions ahead of her trial, which began on April 1 (Abolitionmedia, March 29). On April 24, she was sentenced to 19 years in prison on explosives and terrorism charges (FreedomNews, April 27). Her trajectory points to a militant profile in which ideological commitment, personal partnership, and practical participation converged.

Dimitra Zarafeta and Dimitris Papathanasiou: Alleged Logistics Support

Investigators also identified another couple connected to the Athens explosion: then-30-year-old Dimitra Zarafeta and 31-year-old Dimitris Papathanasiou (Greek city times, November 9, 2024). Zarafeta was a PhD student from Switzerland, while Papathanasiou was an IT specialist. Both were Greek citizens and were accused of procuring the keys to the apartment where the explosion occurred and of forming and joining a terrorist organization (eKathimerini.com, November 11, 2024; January 19). Their alleged role shows how militant infrastructure can depend on educated and professionally skilled supporters who may not fit the public stereotype of armed underground actors. The apartment itself functioned as an operational node: police recovered two handguns, wigs, face masks, and other materials, although the intended target and planned timing of the attack remained unclear.

The outcome of the court proceedings also illustrates the evidentiary difficulty of mapping such networks. On April 24,  an Athens court acquitted Dimitris Papathanasiou and Argyris K., both of whom were to be released after more than 17 months in pre-trial detention. The same court found Zarafeta guilty of multiple offenses related to the case and sentenced her to eight years in prison (FreedomNews, April 27).

Nikos Romanos: Symbolic Veteran, Ultimately Acquitted

The most publicly recognizable figure drawn into the Athens investigation was Nikos Romanos. His fingerprints were found on a blue nylon bag containing a Czech-made firearm, making him a focal point of media attention. Romanos was already a well-known anarchist figure in Greece. He became a symbol of the anarchist movement after the 2008 police shooting of his friend, 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos, which sparked widespread riots, and he later served six years in prison for bank robbery and kidnapping.

Romanos denied involvement with Xymitiris or the other suspects, telling authorities that the fingerprints were from past dealings unrelated to the incident and predated his original 2013 arrest (National Herald, November 25, 2024; eKathimerini.com, November 25, 2025). Despite a prosecutor’s proposal for conviction in earlier stages, an Athens court acquitted Romanos on April 24, citing the lack of direct evidence linking him to the apartment’s residents (eKathimerini.com, April 24). His acquittal cautions against overstating the network's cohesion based solely on movement reputation or legacy associations.

The Pagrati Cache and Legacy Urban Guerrilla Networks

The apartment investigation coincided with the discovery of an arms cache in the inner Athens district of Pagrati. The cache included 37 kilograms of ammonium nitrate, 7.5 kilograms of dynamite, 3 kilograms of gelignite, 2 kilograms of TNT, 6 pistols, a submachine gun, detonators, slow-burning fuses, and a laptop (eKathimerini.com, November 21, 2024). A few days later, authorities arrested a 49-year-old suspect, a teacher without a criminal record who had rented the flat in 2008 using a false identity (Greek City Times, November 22, 2024).

Greek law enforcement authorities believe the cache was linked to individuals involved in urban guerrilla movements active in Greece during the late 2000s and early 2010s. These include groups such as Revolutionary Struggle, Popular Fighters Group, and Conspiracy of Fire Cells. These groups were responsible for high-profile attacks, including bombings and shootings targeting government institutions, police, and foreign diplomats. A detailed examination of files on a confiscated computer revealed texts referencing a claim of responsibility for the February 16, 2010, attack at the JP Morgan offices on Haritos Street in Kolonaki. That bombing caused significant material damage, and the newly emerged Revolutionary Continuity later claimed responsibility (eKathimerini.com, December 11, 2024).

The cache points to a possible generational bridge between older Greek urban guerrilla formations and newer, smaller cells. It also suggests that dormant logistics infrastructure can remain relevant long after the peak period of a militant campaign.

Revolutionary Class Struggle and the Railway Bombing

A newer militant group’s profile emerged on April 11, 2025, when a backpack bomb exploded near the offices of Hellenic Train, Greece’s main railway company. A group calling itself Revolutionary Class Struggle claimed responsibility, although the members remained anonymous, stating that the attack was part of an “armed struggle against the state.” The same group also claimed to have planted another bomb near the Labor Ministry in early February 2024. The Hellenic Train attack caused limited damage and no injuries after an anonymous warning call to local media 40 minutes before the blast allowed police to evacuate and cordon off the area (Deutsche Welle, April 14, 2025).

The attack occurred shortly after the second anniversary of Greece’s worst railway disaster, in which 57 people were killed when a freight train and a passenger train were accidentally routed onto the same track (Euronews, February 28, 2025). The disaster exposed severe deficiencies in Greece’s railway system and produced widespread anger. Revolutionary Class Struggle’s targeting, therefore, appears to have exploited a national grievance while placing the group within the tradition of anarchist and far-left armed propaganda.

Snizana Paraskevaidou and Fotis Tziotzis: Militancy, Robbery, and Criminal Overlap

On May 3, 2025, another fatal explosion occurred outside a bank in central Thessaloniki. Investigators believe a 38-year-old woman was in the process of planting an explosive device when it detonated prematurely, killing her instantly (eKathirerini.com May 3, 2025). The woman was identified in anarchist eulogies as Snizana Paraskevaidou. According to law enforcement officials, she had become a person of interest as part of a circle around Fotis Tziotzis, an anarchist and bank robber accused of violent acts in both Thessaloniki and Athens (Abolition Media May 31, 2025; Anarchist Library June 3, 2025).

Paraskevaidou’s profile underscores the blurred line between ideological militancy and common criminality in parts of the Greek anarchist underground. She had been arrested together with Tziotzis after a 2021 bank robbery, during which she was found carrying a Kalashnikov rifle in a backpack, and was subsequently imprisoned. The group was also suspected of sending a parcel bomb to the Thessaloniki Court of Appeal in February 2024, which remains under investigation by anti-terrorism officers (eKathimerini.com May 3, 2025).

Greek authorities identified two possible motives for the failed Thessaloniki bank bombing: a symbolic act against capitalism or an attempted theft targeting the ATM (eKathimerini.com May 3, 2025). Either possibility is relevant to militant profiling because it shows how anarchist actors may move between political violence, armed robbery, and opportunistic criminal activity.

Alessandro Mercogliano and Sara Ardizzone: Italy’s Experienced Militant Pair

The March 20 explosion in Rome echoed the Athens blast in several ways. The two anarchists killed in the farmhouse explosion in the Parco degli Acquedotti were identified as 53-year-old Alessandro Mercogliano and 35-year-old Sara Ardizzon (Rai News, March 23). As with Xymitiris and Manoura, they were both romantic partners and alleged operational collaborators. Ardizzone had told a court during a 2025 trial that she and Mercogliano were “partners in life and in the struggle,” while also declaring to be “an enemy of the state” (Rai News, March 23). 

Italian law enforcement authorities already knew of both deceased militants. Mercogliano had faced trial for terrorist actions in Turin and was one of five individuals convicted in 2019 for carrying out violent operations between 2003 and 2016, including planting bombs and explosive packages targeting politicians, journalists, and law enforcement officers. Ardizzone had been acquitted in Perugia the previous year as part of another prominent investigation into anarchist violence. Both were connected to the anarchist network, Federazione Anarchica Informale (FAI, Informal Anarchist Federation), which was responsible for several attacks between 2003 and 2012 (Il Tempo, March 21).

Mercogliano and Ardizzone had clearer prior visibility to law enforcement, suggesting a more established militant profile. The Italian pair, therefore, differed from some of the Greek suspects, who appear to have attracted attention only through peripheral illegal activity or after an accident exposed the cell. Their deaths also show that even experienced figures remain vulnerable to technical mistakes when handling unstable explosive devices. 

Conclusion

The recent Italian and Greek cases suggest that violent anarchist militancy in southern Europe remains decentralized but resilient. Rather than a single hierarchical organization, the emerging picture is of small cells and personal networks built around experienced militants, couples, former prisoners, logistics supporters, ideological activists, and figures connected to older urban guerrilla traditions.

On November 13, 2025, the U.S. Department of State announced the designation of violent anarchist groups in Italy and Greece as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (U.S. Department of State, November 13, 2025). Regardless of formal designation, the leadership and personnel patterns are clear: the militant fringe in Italy and Greece is sustained less by centralized command than by dense activist milieus, personal partnerships, legacy networks, and individuals willing to move from protest politics into bomb-making. The operational threat remains unpredictable because these cells may avoid mass-casualty targeting while still handling powerful devices whose premature detonation can produce lethal consequences.