Russian diplomat expelled over spy ring

A RUSSIAN diplomat has been expelled from Ireland after a Garda report found that the Russian intelligence service was behind the “forgery and effective theft” of Irish passports.

Six such passports — based on stolen data from genuine Irish passports — were used in a deep-cover Russian spy ring exposed in the US last June.

The head of the Department of Foreign Affairs told the Russian ambassador in person yesterday afternoon that the activities of Russian spies were “completely unacceptable” and not the behaviour of a friendly country.