Russian ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov confirmed the Russian embassy in Dublin has succeeded in securing a heating oil supplier amid an apparent boycott.
The embassy earlier this month issued a plea for help as Irish oil companies reportedly refused to deliver supplies in protest over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Filatov told The Irish Times that a supplier had been secured after facing the fuel shortage.
Speaking on Saturday as he attended the consecration of festive Easter food at Dublin’s only Russian Orthodox church, he also claimed to have received “many letters” of support for his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Filatov said he has been sent the messages from Irish people who disagree with the Government’s opposition to the war.
However, the ambassador also acknowledged the Irish public in general overwhelmingly oppose Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
“I understand many Irish people who support Ukrainians. It is a really important, it is a complex situation,” he said.
“I know, I am for Ukrainians as well. This is the tragedy of the situation. We don’t have a quarrel with Ukrainians, it is the (Ukrainian) government and the neo-Nazi movement that are a danger to us and a danger to Europe as well.”
His comments come after images of Ukrainian civilians being killed by the Russian military, a massacre in Bucha and the total destruction of Mariupol have shocked the world, with international investigation of war crimes under way.
Pro-Russian rally
Reports of another public rally supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine are meanwhile circulating on social media, with May 7th slated for a demonstration at Dublin's Phoenix Park.
It follows a small car rally earlier this month on the M50 motorway by pro-Russian supporters, which was slammed as “disgusting” by the Ukrainian embassy in Ireland.
Footage on social media showed a dozen cars flying Russian flags and many also carrying the ‘Z’ sign — the symbol of support for Russian troops in Ukraine — driving through Dublin.
Diplomatic relations between Russia and Ireland have been fraught as of late, with four diplomats asked to leave the State and the Russian embassy in Dublin a focal point of public protest against the war in Ukraine.
Last month, Mr Filatov told Russian state-owned television that Ireland is “hostile to Russia and everything Russian” and accused the country of being to the forefront of “anti-Russian events” in the European Union.
Asked on Saturday if he still felt that way, he responded: “I don’t want to get into this quarrel. One thing is what you publish in your newspaper, the other thing is the truth. The truth is different.”
