[1][2][3][4] In 1973 the government of the Republic of Ireland decided to open diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union despite the objections of then Defence Minister Paddy Donegan, who was concerned that many embassy staff could be spies.

[6] Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald asked Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs Jim O'Keeffe to tell the three diplomats - Guennadi Saline (First secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Dublin), Viktor Lipassov and his wife Evdokia - that they had to leave.

[6] Speculation in Irish media at the time was that it was connected to the IRA, but years later it was revealed that it concerned attempts to gather information on United States military via a double agent met in the Stillorgan Shopping Center.

Security sources warned that this could be used by Russian military intelligence and was ideal for storing computer servers for use in data mining, troll farming and launching online "influence" operations.

[2] There was controversy in January 2022, when Russia announced plans to hold naval drills about 150 nautical miles off the coast of County Cork, within Ireland's exclusive economic zone.

The embassy claimed that Gardaí did nothing to stop the truck, calling the incident a "blatant violation" of international diplomatic law and demanding that the Irish state ensure the safety of its staff.

[13] It was also highlighted that Russia had an usually high number of diplomats working out of its Dublin embassy, which had long been seen as a hub for Russian intelligence in western Europe.

Expressions of sympathy from the Irish government were criticised by the Russian embassy, which warned that Ireland could be deemed a belligerent in the conflict for such statements.