Italian senators have proposed a plan to incentivise fishing companies that donate discarded nets to help shield Ukraine from Russian drone attacks, a document showed on Wednesday.

Ukraine has this year stepped up the installation of anti-drone nets over roads in frontline areas as it faces mass Russian drone attacks on hospitals, infrastructure and civilian traffic.

The nets are considered effective defensive tools because they can snag propellers and stop drones from reaching targets, including troops and civilians.

“Fishing nets used in the Mediterranean for millennia are an effective countermeasure against a weapon of death,” Senator Ivan Scalfarotto of the small centrist Italia Viva party told a news conference.

Under the bill, Italian fishing companies would be exempt from disposal costs for the nets sent to Ukraine and would receive payments based on the weight of the material delivered.

NETS ARE ‘BASIC BUT EFFECTIVE’

Scalfarotto, who sits in opposition to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government, tabled the bill in mid-March and said he hoped other pro-Ukraine parties in parliament would support it to speed its approval.

Support for Ukraine has, at times, exposed divisions within the ruling coalition. Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party and Forza Italia strongly support Kyiv, while the far-right League has often expressed pro-Russian views.

The draft law says charity groups across Europe, including in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Britain and France, have already sent fishing nets to Ukraine.

Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Rome has supported Ukraine’s military effort with 12 aid packages, including air defence systems.

Scalfarotto said the nets offer a further way to support Kyiv: “We could easily combine fishing nets with technological tools. They may seem basic, but they are effective.”