Ukrainian forces captured an Italian chef from Naples who was fighting against Ukraine.

In the Kharkiv region, paratroopers from the 78th Separate Air Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces captured an Italian named Gianni Cenni, who fought alongside Russians against Ukraine. This was reported on Friday, January 10, by the Command of the Air Assault Forces.

It is noted that at the beginning of 2025, during a combat mission near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian soldiers discovered a group of Russian fighters. Some of them were eliminated by the Ukrainians, while others were captured.

Among those taken prisoner by the Ukrainian paratroopers was the Italian Gianni Cenni. The military found out that the 51-year-old man was originally from Naples, and had recently worked at an Italian restaurant in the Russian city of Samara. In November 2024, he voluntarily joined the Russian army and fought against Ukraine. It is known that the Italian has a wife and two children.

The Italian publication Today.it writes that Gianni Cenni worked as a chef at a restaurant in Naples before moving to Russia. It is also known that he worked in Finland for some time. The owner of the Italian restaurant in Samara, Giangido Brebbo, confirmed to journalists that Cenni indeed worked in his restaurant but later quit and moved to another city.

“About a year ago, he was my employee, and then he quit. I knew he moved south of Volgograd, but I don’t remember exactly where. He had an excessive character, and now knowing that he went to fight, it doesn’t surprise me,” Today.it quotes Giangido Brebbo.

Italian journalists found a photo of Giangido Brebbo online. In a picture dated 2015, Giangido Brebbo is seen wearing a shirt that says “I am Putin's friend.”

“What drove a Neapolitan pizza chef to enlist in the Russian army and end up in a trench in Ukraine remains unclear. Even if usually most Russian and foreign volunteers fighting for Putin do so for economic gain,” writes Today.it.

According to Today.it, the Italian was captured by Ukrainian forces around January 7-8. Ukrainian soldiers suggested that Gianni Cenni had fallen victim to Russian propaganda.