Russia has tried to use Brexit to sow discord between Ireland and the United Kingdom and spread Kremlin propaganda in Europe. As in a film he would have done it first through a spy sent to Dublin with the aim of finding possible accomplices among the local politicians, and then even using a woman who started a romantic relationship with one of them precisely with the aim of influencing him and extorting information delicate. The news was previewed by the British newspaper Sunday Times and then partially confirmed by the taoiseach (the Irish prime minister) Simon Harris, without however making public the identity of the politician, who according to rumors would be a member of the left-wing opposition.
A spy at the embassy
As reported by The Times, the spy was Sergey Prokopiev, who officially worked as a counselor at the Russian embassy on Orwell Road in Dublin. In reality he was a high-level military intelligence officer sent to Ireland by Vladimir Putin’s armed forces to operate under diplomatic cover. Its mission was to recruit and manage agents, sources and resources from the worlds of politics, business and the media, but also to engage in what the Russians call “active measures”. Despite his counter-espionage experience, he did not realize that he himself was under observation by the local secret services.
Upon his arrival in Ireland in March 2019, Prokopiev was focused on rebuilding the Russian intelligence network on both sides of the border, and aimed to build contacts with Northern Ireland’s loyalist and republican paramilitary groups, which had sprung up during the Brexit negotiations between the European Union and Great Britain. Loyalists threatened violence over the divorce negotiations, objecting to the creation of an invisible border in the Irish Sea, and republicans did the same against the possibility of a return to a land border. The Kremlin wanted to fan the flames of tensions to destabilize relations between Ireland and Great Britain.
The ‘useful idiots’
Russian intelligence officials are experts at recruiting what they call “useful idiots,” people who act in their interests and who can be easily exploited. Among these there would also have been the deputy, nicknamed Cobalt. However, the man did not receive money in any form from Moscow and did not share sensitive documents. But, as the British newspaper explains, Russian spies study their targets, looking for any personal vulnerability that they can use to convince a person to collaborate, even naively, and in addition to money the other main aspects that make people psychologically vulnerable to recruitment would be ideology, coercion and ego.
But also loving feelings, or at least lust. When Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ireland kicked out four Russian diplomats accused of recruiting intelligence moles within the Irish political and business community. Among them Sergey Prokopiev. But the Sunday Times reported that, following his expulsion, the man continued to coordinate activities with the Irish MP through a female Russian agent sent periodically to Dublin to pursue a romantic relationship with the politician, a so-called ‘snare trap’. honey’.
The prime minister’s confirmation
When reporters asked Harris whether a Russian intelligence mole was indeed operating inside Parliament, the Irish taoiseach said he could not confirm the information, but added: “It shouldn’t be a surprise to any of us.” . “Russia seeks to distort public opinion and is active in this regard around the world. Ireland is not immune to this,” Harris added.
