Czech President Milos Zeman said there was no evidence in the intelligence report of the involvement of “Russian agents” in the 2014 explosion.
On April 17, the Prime Minister of the Republic, Andrei Babis, announced that the country’s authorities suspect the Russian special services of involvement in the explosion at an ammunition depot in Vrbetica in 2014. On the same day, the Czech Republic announced its decision to expel 18 Russian diplomats.
In turn, Russia a day later announced 20 employees of the Czech embassy in the Russian Federation persona non grata. The accusations in Russia were categorically denied, and the fact that Prague does not publish a report on the explosion, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova called evidence of a lie.
On April 22, the German edition of World Economy conducted an investigation into the alleged involvement of the Russian special services in these explosions at warehouses in Vrbetica. Journalists pointed to a number of inconsistencies in the accusations of the Czech authorities.
As explained in the Russian Foreign Ministry, as a result of the mutual expulsions of diplomats, by May 31, seven diplomats, 25 technical staff and 19 people received on the spot will remain in the embassies of the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation. Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulganek cited similar data.
The news is supplemented.