The Czech government suspects that Russian intelligence officers were involved in an explosion in an ammunition depot in 2014. The Czech Republic has therefore expelled 18 Russian diplomats who, according to the government, work for the Russian secret service in Prague. The Russians will have 48 hours to leave, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Foreign Minister Jan Hamáček reported on Saturday.
“There is reasonable suspicion about the involvement of officers of the Russian intelligence service GRU, Unit 29155, in the explosion at the ammunition depot in the Vrbetice region,” Babiš said on television. In October 2014, two employees of a company that rented the storage from the army died. Two months later, another explosion followed.
“The Czech Republic is a sovereign state and must respond appropriately to these unprecedented revelations,” said the prime minister.
The first vice-chair of the Russian upper house’s international affairs committee, Vladimir Djabarov, called the Czech allegations absurd. He announced according to news agency Interfax indicates that Russia will repay in the same currency by expelling an equal number of Czechs, as is customary in such matters. The news agency cites a source as saying that the Czech Republic has decided to close its embassy in Moscow.
Minister Hamáček had earlier in the day canceled a planned and controversial visit to Moscow for Monday. Among other things, he would talk about the delivery of Russian Sputnik Vaccines.
Also research into the poisoning of former spy Skripal
In the meantime, the Czech police announced that they were looking for two men who would have multiple passports with them, including the Russian names Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Bosjirov. They match those of two suspects linked to the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia.
Russia declines all responsibility for that attack on British soil in March 2018 with the poison gas novichok developed in the Soviet Union.
Poland and the United States, among others, have been expelling Russian diplomats in recent days, followed by similar countermeasures by Moscow. The two countries took this step after cyber attacks allegedly behind Moscow.
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