Revealed: Putin has an agent in the Oireachtas

John Mooney

The Irish military and security ­services have identified a politician in the Oireachtas who has been recruited by Russian intelligence as an agent of influence and whose clandestine connections to Moscow remain intact, The Sunday Times can reveal.

The existence of the agent, whom we are calling “Cobalt” for legal reasons, is one of the state’s most closely guarded secrets. The situation is known only to a handful of people in the country.

Sergey Prokopiev, a Russian spy, worked as a counsellor at his ­country’s embassy in Orwell Road, Dublin, from 2019 to 2022. He was in charge of the intelligence operation that recruited the politician, who operates as an agent of influence inside parliament.

https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/how-a-russian-operative-snared-an-irish-politician-2bh3zkt5x

How a Russian operative snared an Irish politician

Classic Cold War tradecraft lured a sitting member of the Oireachtas to offer his services to a spy

How a Russian operative snared an Irish politician Classic Cold War tradecraft lured a sitting member of the Oireachtas to offer his services to a spy

… [trying to get the rest of it, bear with me]