25 April, three shots with an air pistol against an Anpi couple in Rome. Disturbances in Milan

Peace, Mattarellam warns, 'it was in response to this heartfelt appeal that the international community planned, with the UN, to aspire to liberate the world from the nightmare of war and, with the design of European unity, to liberate our continent. In recent years, we are painfully witnessing anti-historical ambitions to weaken or even remove those paths. Forgetting or ignoring that reacting to war between peoples means trusting common institutions of peace, making them more authoritative and efficient: a commitment all the more indispensable now'.

In the early morning, the President of the Republic paid homage at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier at the Altare della Patria, where the highest offices of State, military leaders and local authorities were present. "The Italian people are commemorating one of the decisive moments in their history: the end of the Nazi occupation and the defeat of fascist oppression, which had denied Italians freedom and democracy. Today we celebrate the values engraved in the Republican Constitution, which have allowed Italia to become what it is and which is recognised by all: a strong and authoritative nation, a protagonist on the European and international scene'. This was said by the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, on the occasion of the Festa. 'Today,' added the premier, 'we find ourselves in the words of the President of the Republic and we renew our commitment so that 25 April is "a moment of collective reflection and national cohesion". It is a wish that we make our own, because it is from concord and respect for others that the Nation can draw renewed vigour

La presidente del Consiglio Giorgia Meloni in occasione delle celebrazioni per 81mo anniversario della Liberazione. Altare della Patria Roma (photo by Mauro Scrobogna / LaPresse)

"On 25 April, we remember with deep gratitude that generation of Italians, both civilian and military, who gave us back our freedom with great valour and sacrifice, and who reminds us of what we are today as a nation and as a community. What makes Liberation Day extraordinary is precisely this: the fact that it arose from difficult, dangerous choices, made in different contexts but united by the same sense of responsibility. It was a widespread and silent commitment, made up of faces, stories, concrete gestures; a choral path of struggle against the Nazi-fascism that was then oppressing our Homeland and many Homelands in Europe, which made possible the rebirth of Italia as a free and democratic country, from which the Republican Constitution later emerged. A country, ours, that today is a founding part of the European Union and a leading player on the international scene'. These were the words of Defence Minister Guido Crosetto in his message. 'Remembering all this also means understanding that freedom is never a good acquired once and for all,' he continued. 'The same applies to peace, which is not born of a simple desire nor can it be considered definitive. Peace is built every day, with responsibility, balance, strength and determination. It is a truth that we feel today with even greater clarity and conviction'.

A group of pro-Palestine activists challenged the mayor of Bologna, Matteo Lepore, during his speech in Piazza del Nettuno for the 81st anniversary of the Liberation. Shouting 'Free Palestine', a group of about fifty people entered the square with Palestine flags, placards and keffiyehs. The activists repeatedly tried to overpower the mayor's voice with slogans and demands to distance themselves from the conflict in the Middle East. They also challenged the government of Israel with words such as 'They are all murderers' and President Benjamin Netanyahu, called 'a torturer' by the protesters. On the other hand, the mayor was applauded when he took a stand against the Israeli government and the policies of the Meloni government.

Manifestazione a Porta San Paolo per la Festa della Resistenza. Sabato 25 Aprile 2026. News (Photo by Valentina Stefanelli/Lapresse) Demonstration at Porta San Paolo for the Resistance Festival. Saturday, April 25, 2026. News (Photo by Valentina Stefanelli/Lapresse)

 Tense moments at Porta San Paolo during the rally of participants in the Liberation Day procession. A group of activists, including the president of +Europa Matteo Hallissey, arrived in the square displaying Ukrainian flags, but encountered opposition from exponents of the communist area and the extreme left movements already present. There were moments of confrontation in the confrontation, and even pepper spray was reportedly used.

It has been reported that two Anpi members, wearing partisans' headscarves around their necks, were looking for a bar in Via delle Sette Chiese, in Rome, near the square for the 25 April demonstration when a man on a light scooter wearing a full helmet and a military coloured jacket stopped, pulled out a gun and fired three shots with an air pistol. The two, husband and wife, were shot in the neck and cheek the former, in the shoulder the latter. They lost blood.

The Rome public prosecutor's office awaits an initial report from the police on the wounding of the two militants. The file could end up at the attention of the anti-terrorist prosecutors. The investigators could hypothesise the crime of aggravated injuries. The two injured men have already been heard by investigators. According to an initial reconstruction, they were hit by pellets fired from an air gun. The shooter was a man, possibly a young man, on a scooter wearing a full-face helmet and camouflage jacket. Images from video surveillance cameras, which may have captured details of the scooter, are being examined to determine the identity of the attacker. At the moment, no leads are being ruled out. Investigators from the Digos and the San Paolo police station are investigating the case

Naples celebrated Liberation Day with numerous initiatives in various places linked to the memory of the events that led to the liberation of Italia from Nazi-Fascism. A solemn ceremony was held in front of the stele commemorating the sacrifice of Salvo D'Acquisto, attended by the mayor Gaetano Manfredi, deputy mayor Laura Lieto, councillors Teresa Armato, Valerio Di Pietro, Emanuela Ferrante, and Carlo Puca, regional president Roberto Fico, regional council president Massimiliano Manfredi, parliamentarians Francesco Emilio Borrelli and Giuseppe Conte, prefect Michele di Bari, along with numerous other city and regional administrators, and civil and military authorities.

After a long blockade, slowly the main procession of 25 April in Milan resumed its march towards Piazza Duomo, where the final rallies had already begun. A group of demonstrators with Palestine flags, about a hundred of them, followed the Jewish Brigade as it left the procession in Via Senato. At the moment a cordon of security forces stopped them in via Senato. The demonstrators chanted 'Free Palestine', 'Milan knows where it stands. Free Palestine from the river to the sea' and 'Get the Zionists out of Milan'.

The pro-Palestine protesters blocked the rest of the Milanese procession, including the Jewish Brigade, which walked a few metres and then stopped. The pro-Palestine militants kept shouting 'get out of the procession' and 'shame on you' and blocked the passage at the junction with via Senato and corso di porta Venezia. Between whistles and applause, insults and shouts of 'out, out', the police in riot gear moved the Jewish Brigade section out of the procession.

'We were kicked out of the procession because we have the Star of David on our banners, because we defend the right of the state of Israel to exist, because we defend the rights of the Jewish Brigade to parade? I don't know, ask them,' explained Emanuele Fiano, a member of the PD and Left for Israel, who was present with the Jewish Brigade at the 25 April parade in Milan. 'Now I have not yet decided what we will do, whether to go to Piazza del Duomo or not. It's the 50th year I'm taking part, something like this has never happened before,' he added. "We were kicked out by the police, it is a serious matter and we will talk about it," said the director of the Jewish Brigade Museum Davide Romano, after the Jewish Brigade was pulled out of the procession.