Russian diplomats have been expelled from Ireland in the past, but the move to send four of them back to Moscow last week as a signal to the Kremlin of Ireland’s condemnation of the war in Ukraine, marks a low-point in relations between the two countries.

The controversial Russian embassy on Dublin’s Orwell Road has come under a renewed spotlight since the war began, but it has been suspected of being a front for intelligence gathering since the Cold War.

The Irish Times crime correspondent Conor Gallagher talks to Conor Pope about the origins of that suspicion and the likelihood that the Kremlin could run a spy network out of Ireland.

Produced by Jennifer Ryan and Aideen Finnegan

www.irishtimes.com/podcasts

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