Russian spies recruited an Irish politician in a ‘honeytrap’ operation as they tried to stoke tensions between Ireland and Britain during Brexit talks, it was claimed yesterday.
A surveillance operation discovered that the politician had met an agent based in Dublin and offered to connect them with paramilitaries in Northern Ireland.
The meeting with Sergey Prokopiev, who worked in the Russian embassy between 2019 and 2022, took place at a sensitive time in negotiations over Brexit.
Loyalist paramilitaries were threatening to take action over the 2019 and 2020 deals, which created a customs border in the Irish Sea.
The mole – who has been named ‘Cobalt’ for legal reasons – is said to still be working in the Irish parliament despite being identified as a Russian asset.
The entrance to the Russian embassy in Dublin. An Irish politician was recruited by Russian spies in a ‘honeytrap’ operation in a bid to stoke tensions between the UK and Ireland over Brexit
Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with his then British counterpart Boris Johnson in 2019
It represents the first known infiltration of the Irish parliament by a hostile intelligence service in modern times, but comes amid increasing attempts by the Kremlin to target Western politicians.
Security chiefs believe Cobalt was not paid by the Russians but was instead recruited after being lured into a compromising sexual encounter.
Details of his life were uncovered in his internet history, intercepted during travels abroad, The Sunday Times reported.
He was said to have been warned by officials that he was being targeted by Moscow – and his dismissal of those concerns only strengthened their suspicions.
Current Taoiseach Simon Harris said yesterday he would not comment on matters of security but said it should come as no surprise that Russia seeks to influence public opinion
Loyalist paramilitaries were threatening to take action over the 2019 and 2020 deals, which created a customs border in the Irish Sea
However, despite meeting a female agent on several occasions, no action was taken as Cobalt had no access to classified material.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said he would not comment on matters of security yesterday.
But he added: ‘It shouldn’t come as any surprise to any of us that Russia seeks to influence public opinion, seeks to distort public opinion… and that Ireland is not immune from that.’
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