There is no Agent Cobalt: Garda investigation clears Irish politician of being a Russian agent

The politician has been sent written confirmation from Gardaí saying nothing has been found to suggest he spied for Russia.

12.06am, 19 Aug 2025

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A GARDA INVESTIGATION into allegations that an Irish politician was acting as a Russian spy has exonerated the public representative,

The politician has been sent confirmation from the detectives investigating the case that nothing has been found to suggest that he ever spied for Russia or worked with Russian agents. 

A solicitor representing the politician would not comment on the new development when contacted by The Journal. 

The allegation that Russian intelligence had recruited an Irish politician as an agent was first reported in a Sunday newspaper last year under the headline ‘Revealed: Putin has an agent in the Oireachtas’. The politician has never been named publicly and has been identified only by the nickname Cobalt.

The story sent shockwaves through Leinster House with TDs and Senators taking to their feet in the Oireachtas chambers to declare that they were not Cobalt. 

The Journal understands that gardaí in the Special Detective Unit – the main domestic security agency of An Garda Síochána – were already investigating before the story was published in October 2024. 

The Gardaí, who work in counter-espionage, were looking into a number of suspicious approaches by Russian operatives working in Ireland. 

Sources said that Russian agents did try to approach the Irish politician at the centre of the story – but that nothing came of it. 

The first approach was made while the politicianwas in an eastern European country on a fact-finding mission as part of their work.

The politician unexpectedly collapsed at one stage during the visit. One line of inquiry was that his drink had been spiked by a female agent. 

The politician contacted Gardaí on his return to Ireland and spoke with detectives after becoming suspicious about the cause of his collapse. 

The politician was approached a second time, this time in Ireland, by someone who said they were a trade attaché working at the Russian Embassy in Dublin. 

Sources said the politician again contacted the Special Detective Unit (SDU) to alert them to the issue. 

Irish intelligence analysis determined that the ‘trade attaché’ was not involved in trade and was in fact a recruiter for the Russian intelligence service, most likely attached to the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence. 

It is believed that both of the approaches were an attempt to encourage the politician to provide information to Russian agents. Such approaches can involve money but more often involve blackmail to pressure the person to provide information. 

These incidents occurred between five and six years ago. 

Specialist SDU detectives subjected the politician to heated questioning before the war began. The meeting was attended by a senior officer and other detectives. 

This was later followed up with another meeting in which a number of SDU detectives met with the politician and his legal representatives after the publication of the article in late 2024. 

This meeting is believed to have been far less heated. The detectives told the politician that nothing untoward had been found that would suggest he had given information to Russia.  

It is understood the politician was sent confirmation of this in writing. 

The fake ‘trade attaché’ was subsequently expelled from Ireland along with four other registered diplomats in March 2022, when they were accused by the Department of Foreign Affairs of working to undermine the Irish State, just a month after Russia launched its full invasion of Ukraine. 

‘Haphazard, fairly amateurish’ attempts to recruit agents in Ireland

The Journal has previously reported that Irish security sources have determined that Russia has used its embassy here as an intelligence and communications base for European operations.

We have also confirmed through multiple sources that there was an effort by Russian agents to recruit people in various State positions, including in the civil service and politics. 

One security source with knowledge of the issue said that the efforts were “haphazard [and] fairly amateurish… the Russians did not seem to be aware of the complete lack of information low-level politicians would have”. 

Security sources said that Russia has been training agents in Ireland who then go on to other missions in less permissive locations such as the US, the UK, and EU countries such as France and the Netherlands. 

One of these agents went by the name Viktor Muller Ferreira, and he studied at Trinity College Dublin, where he claimed to be from Brazil. His real name was Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov. 

European and US espionage operations had determined he was a so-called “illegal” which is espionage slang for a spy masquerading as a legitimate resident of a country. 

He was caught by Dutch intelligence services as he attempted to work at the International Criminal Court (ICC), located in The Hague. His mission was to spy on the investigation against Russia for war crimes in Ukraine.

Sources have said there was large-scale and exceptionally secret activity after the invasion of Ukraine by Ireland’s security forces to attempt to limit Russia’s espionage activities in the country. Part of this included keeping track of who politicians and other State service personnel were interacting with to ensure that they were not compromised.  

It is understood that the politician at the centre of the story was not the only person who was approached in a recruitment drive by Russian agents.