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The Czech Republic will send 18 employees of the Russian embassy for 2014. explosions in the ammunition depot. This was announced on Saturday by the country’s prime minister, the dpa news agency reported.
These diplomats were found to be officials of the External Intelligence Service (SVR) and the General Intelligence Board (GRU) of the Russian Federation. This was confirmed by the Czech Minister of the Interior, Jan Hamaček, who is also Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Russians were ordered to leave the country within 48 hours.
T. Krasauskas stated that the decision to send the employees of the Russian embassy to the Czech Republic was determined for various reasons.
“The answer is the long-term strengthening of Russian intelligence and dominance in the Czech Republic. This decision obviously raises many other problems. There is also the fact that the elections are approaching, that there were plans to travel to Moscow to negotiate the import of the Sputnik V vaccine. With the fact that the Russian company Rosatom wants to participate in the construction of a nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic. And with the fact that there were about 120 Russian diplomats in the country with a population out of 10 million, various active Russian organizations, about 15 thousand registered Russian speakers, it is estimated that there are about 100 thousand more in the country. ”T. Krasauskas told the news radio program.
He also recalled a warehouse that was blown up in the Czech Republic in 2014, killing two people.
“That warehouse belongs to the army, there are several warehouses there, they are near the border with Slovakia, a place far from Prague. That warehouse was rented to the army by a private company engaged in the arms trade. Those explosions involved shipments, presumably to result in the death of the Bulgarian who was the recipient of that shipment. There were accusations that those weapons were destined for Ukraine, but these were only accusations, “said the president of the Czech Lithuanian community.
He said the Czech government was deciding in recent days whether to reveal all the facts of the case.
“Those warehouses are far from each other, a few kilometers apart. Those explosions were two, one in mid-October and the other in early December. And it was mentioned in the media at the time that since the army, guns, and explosions were linked, no conspiracy theories were developed. That case was quietly put aside until last Saturday, “explained the interlocutor of the program.
The long-forgotten case was remembered after an investigative journalism project that found that Russian intelligence was flying to London and was in the Czech Republic when the warehouses exploded.
“I believe that the Czech security structure also had this information, but it has not yet been made public. It is speculated that the two Russian citizens came to Prague from Moscow and then traveled to the city near the area where the warehouses are located. days later he left directly from Austria, from there he returned to Russia, “T. Krasauskas told the radio news program” Question of the Day “.
The additional orientation of the Czech Republic in the upcoming elections, he said, should change.
“We hope that this incident will help the majority of voters and politicians to look healthier for Russia and help them.” Therefore, I believe that attempts to register the Sputnik V vaccine as a matter of urgency should end. I also believe that most political parties, not only the right but also the left, will be more willing to cooperate with the countries of Western Europe and North America.
Because very often there are opinions in Czech politics that the Czech Republic should find its own way, follow the example of Switzerland, preserve its identity, protect its nationality. I believe that this debate can be maintained, but it must be taken into account that the Czech Republic is still a country of the European Union ”, emphasized the speaker of the show.
T. Krasauskas said he hoped this story would be a turning point “from Russia.”
“Army experts say the Czech army, which relies on Russian-made helicopters and transport, should be vigorously modernized. Most doubted whether they would get the details of that technique from Russia and be able to operate it if relations with Russia suddenly deteriorated. I think this is one of the examples that it is time to choose partners that are based on more democratic traditions, ”said the president of the Czech-Lithuanian community on the radio news program“ Question of the Day ”.
Elta announced that the explosions at the ammunition depot in Vrbetice, 110 km east of Prague, took place in 2014. October and December. During them, two people died and significant damage occurred.
Trade defense companies operated in the area and hundreds of explosives were stored.
A special police unit investigating organized crime distributed photos of the two suspects. Both men are similar to those wanted in the UK for the 2018 poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia.
Suspicious members of GRU in 2014 visited the Czech region, which houses the ammunition depot, for six days in mid-October.
They are said to have traveled on Russian passports bearing the names of Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Bosirov.
After the explosions, it took thousands of Czech soldiers two years to clean up the unexploded ordnance and keep the area safe again.
The Kremlin responded quickly to the news of the Russian deportation. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that “Prague is well aware of what happens after” such tricks. “
Vladimir Jabarov, a member of the Council of the Russian Federation, believes that the response to the expulsion of diplomats must be proportionate.
At the time, Hamaček announced that he had canceled his planned visit to Moscow on Monday. He was heavily criticized by other members of the government and the opposition for a trip to discuss the purchase of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19. On Saturday, the minister said he would not be able to go to Russia for a government meeting.
Prime Minister Babiš reminded him that the Minister of the Interior was not responsible for purchasing vaccines and threatened that he would not be able to use a government plane during the trip. The Prime Minister added that before considering the acquisition of Sputnik V, this vaccine must be approved by the responsible EU institutions.
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