Russia has clear capacity for intelligence operations in Ireland, Nato official warns

Russia has a clear capacity to engage in serious intelligence operations in all countries, including Ireland, a senior US official to Nato has warned. Picture: Dmitry Azarov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Russia has a clear capacity to engage in serious intelligence operations in all countries, including Ireland, a senior US official to Nato has warned.

David F Helvey, Deputy Defence Advisor for the US Mission to the military alliance, said the threats include disinformation campaigns, political interference, and cyber attacks.

He said Russia has also been creating food and energy insecurity in countries and pointed out that borders offered no protection to Russian agents engaging in chemical attacks against fellow citizens living in European countries.

His comments, made during a webinar held in Dublin, come just a week after an Irish judge, charged with overseeing surveillance powers by An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces, flagged a growing Russian threat to the security of Ireland in the last year.

In his annual report to the Taoiseach, as revealed in the Irish Examiner last weekend, Mr Justice Charles Meenan said: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine has considerably increased the level of danger and threat to the security of the State.” 

Asked to comment on what threats Russian intelligence and security services posed to countries like Ireland, Mr Helvey said: “One of the things that we have seen from Russia that I think does need to be of concern to all of us and this extends beyond the unprovoked war that President Putin has launched on Ukrainian people is Russia's capacity to engage in disinformation and influence operations which basically could occur anywhere globally.” 

Addressing an event organised by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), he said countries need to be mindful of the potential impact disinformation can have, not only on the politics of the country targeted but also its economy.

He said the world was seeing how Russia was leveraging its economic resources as a coercive tool and added: “This may not be applicable directly to Ireland, but to the extent that you know, energy security and the use of energy as a weapon, and the cascading effects go beyond those that are immediately hit by those challenges."

Similarly, food insecurity, he said, has affected supplies and prices in Ireland had probably increased, like elsewhere.

Mr Helvey said: “Even beyond those types of things, we have seen Russia resort to chemical weapons attacks against Russian citizens outside of Russia."

The career civil servant in the US Department of Defence also cited cyberattacks and hacking.

He also said that China was engaging in similar tactics: “There are influence activities that China can engage in that affect the security interests across the Euro Atlantic area, whether it's investments in critical infrastructure, investments in critical technologies, supply chain and the potential for supply chain disruptions and political influence.” 

Mr Helvey's talk ‘Defending Europe: American Perspectives on the Madrid Summit and NATO’s New Strategic Concept’ referred to this week’s meeting in the Spanish capital and the launch of the alliance’s new security document.

Days before the Government publishes its implementation plan of the Commission on the Defence Forces report, which was published last February, Mr Helvey was asked to comment about Irish defence investment.

“I don't offer advice in public fora on what other countries have to do with their defence.”

He then added: “But I would certainly think, and hope, that Ireland would look very, very carefully at security environments and the resources that are necessary to meet, in a sustainable way, the tasks that are given to the armed forces with respect to protecting the security environment and the security interests that are here.” 

Commenting on the threats posed to maritime security, including trans-Atlantic underwater cables, many of which pass near or through Irish-controlled waters, Mr Helvey said this was an issue of the “resilience and security of critical infrastructure”.

He said: “Whether it’s undersea infrastructure or transportation networks or power generation and oil and gas having the security of that critical infrastructure is necessary, not only for the physical security of our countries but also our ability to maintain healthy economies."

On Nato-EU linkages, he said that greater cooperation between the two institutions was “important, if not essential to advance our interests and defend our security”.

He cited examples of cybersecurity, disinformation, and malign influence as obvious areas where co-operation could deepen.

He also mentioned talking to each other about defence investments in order to avoid duplication and make the best use of public resources.

A key area, he said, was more joint training exercises and building partners outside Nato and the EU.

He said outside defence, there could be co-operation in relation to climate change, emerging and disruptive technologies, innovation and space.

He said that there were 50-75 areas for co-operation and that the list was getting longer.