The Kremlin reportedly used a honeypot trap to implicate Dáil Éireann, a sitting Irish member of the Irish Republic Parliament, who was then tasked with working with British Northern Ireland loyalist militias on Moscow’s behalf. It is reported that he was given.
The unnamed lawmaker, who is believed to be a member of Ireland’s left-wing opposition party, has also spread pro-Russian rhetoric in other parts of the country, but an investigation by Irish intelligence has revealed whether he did so of his own free will or because of the Russian government’s influence. It is unclear whether he did so in accordance with orders.
join us on telegram
Follow our coverage of the war at @Kyivpost_official.
Irish intelligence said the lawmaker had no access to classified information, but was seen by the Kremlin as someone who could “(undermine) public confidence in the institution” through activities that The Times said could not be disclosed for legal reasons. He said he suspected that the incident had been done.
Two senior Irish officials confirmed the incident to Politico, but said the congressman was not arrested or charged and remains anonymous for now because contact with a suspected spy alone does not constitute a crime.
The Times was expelled in March 2022 after operating under diplomatic cover as the mastermind behind a Russian plan to exploit rising tensions between factions in the post-Brexit Republic of Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland. Named Russian spy Sergei Prokopyev.
The Times reported that the lawmaker agreed to engage pro-British militias in Northern Ireland on Mr Prokopyev’s behalf at a possible meeting outside Dublin in 2019, leading to an investigation by Irish authorities. It was reported that he encouraged
Other interesting topics
ISW Russia Attack Campaign Assessment, October 7, 2024
Latest information from the Institute for War Studies.
Anonymous officials told Politico that the lawmaker had no previous contact with paramilitary groups and suggested the Kremlin was “ignorant” about Ireland’s political situation by involving him in such activities. .
It is unclear how the Kremlin intended to use this group, if the reports are true, as most of the loyalist groups are pro-British and therefore pro-Ukrainian.
The Kremlin reportedly used a honeytrap of attractive female operatives who worked to continue engaging and compromising Prokopyev with the lawmaker after his ouster.
Authorities had asked lawmakers to stop contact with Russian officials, but lawmakers rejected the request.
Ireland, traditionally neutral, had been cited by some as a potential hotbed for increased Russian espionage even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, the current administration has been vocally pro-Ukrainian, and has reportedly stepped up its efforts against Russian espionage in recent years.
Following his expulsion in March 2022, Dublin expelled Prokopyev along with other Russian diplomats in February 2024 as it deemed his activities to be “contrary to international standards of diplomatic conduct” amid growing concerns about espionage. In response to this, the Russian government refused to replace its diplomat in Dublin. ”
In the second half of the 20th century, anti-Western sentiment in parts of Irish society, including Northern Ireland, which bore the brunt of the fighting between Marxists and Irish republican paramilitaries and British troops and trade unionist paramilitaries, led to pro-Russian propaganda. is allowed to spread. In some districts.