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The Czech investigative newspaper Respekt reported in April that a Russian citizen had arrived in Prague on a diplomatic passport and had brought extremely poisonous castor oil.
He allegedly had to poison three Czech officials, including the Mayor of Prague, Zdenek Hrib. The latter took measures that angered Moscow: the square next to the Russian embassy in Prague was renamed in honor of the murdered Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, and a sculpture of controversial Soviet general Ivan Konev was recently overthrown in the city.
Reuters / Scanpix Photo / Boris Nemtsov Square in Prague
Konev is considered a hero in Russia, but many Czechs see him as a symbol of Soviet-era oppression.
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Respekt writes that the luggage of the Russian citizen, which may have been intended to poison Czech officials, has not been checked, because diplomatic protocol allows the check to be avoided.
Reuters / Scanpix photo / Controversial monument to Soviet general I. Konev dismantled in Praia
According to the newspaper, the suspected intelligence agent arrived at the Russian embassy complex in Prague.
Another named Russian target, Ondrey Kolar, the mayor of a Prague district, said officials had informed him and that the Russians had been sent to “liquidate” him and two others.
Prague Mayor Z. Hrib told independent Russian radio Echo Moskvy that the Czech police had granted him protection, but did not confirm information about the planned attack.
The Kremlin has vehemently denied such allegations.
Attack – possible?
However, Western intelligence experts believe the alleged plan to kill Czech officials is possible, reports Radio Free Europe (RL / RFE).
Security expert and former National Security Service analyst and counterintelligence officer John Schindler said the ricin scandal would mean a dangerous escalation of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s espionage in the West.
“Russia’s intelligence services feel safe acting very aggressively in Prague. I myself have faced rude behavior, but the beaver is crazy even for the Kremlin. Putin took off his gloves,” Schindler told RL / RFE.
Reuters / Scanpix photo / Russian Embassy in Prague
According to him, in 2006 Putin started a “spy war” against NATO and the European Union (EU), gradually increasing the number of espionage operations abroad.
“Russia’s spy groups in NATO countries are now larger than during the worst of the Cold War, and in Prague they are probably more numerous than anywhere else in the West,” Schindler wrote in 2017 in The Observer.
The Czech Counterintelligence Service (BIS) has been warning in its reports for months about the threat posed by Russian spies. According to the BIS, the Czech Republic’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the Military Intelligence Service (GRU) and the departments of the Federal Security Service (FSB) operate in the Czech Republic.
According to the BIS and other security experts, the Russian embassy in Prague, which employs about 140 people, is a hive of spies. A BIS report released in November 2019 says the long-standing security problem remains an excessive Russian diplomatic mission in the Czech Republic.
David Stulik, an analyst at the European Values Center for Security Policy, said Russia was carrying out the espionage under diplomatic cover.
Reuters / Photo by Scanpix / Sergei Skripalis in court in Russia
“They mention our institutions, collect information and translate the Czech Republic de facto Russia’s intelligence base in the Schengen area, “D. Stulik told RL / RFE.
The last time the Czech Republic expelled Russian diplomats was in 2018, after former Russian spy Sergei Skripali and his daughter had been poisoned with a nerve-wracking substance in Salisbury, England. Three employees of the Russian embassy were sent.
Lack of political will.
Jakub Janda, head of the European Values Center for Security Policy, said he doubted there was a political will in the Czech Republic to take drastic measures against Russian spies.
“We could send virtually all diplomats and intelligence officers in the Czech Republic, to which Moscow would respond.” This would destroy most of the Russian spy networks in the Czech Republic, which is the main target of such a movement. But it requires political courage from a government that depends on Russia today through the president and the communists, “Janda told RL / RFE.
AFP / Scanpix Photo / Czech President Milos Zeman
Czech President Milos Zeman maintains close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has expressed doubts about sanctions against Russia for the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.
For his part, Schindler said the beaver scandal could awaken Czech political leaders. The BIS is said to be working against emerging threats, but Zeman “is not enthusiastic” about resisting the Kremlin.
“The Ricino incident is as evident as the Novičiok attack in the UK, we can expect a change.” Maybe, “said Schindler.
“Probably a fantasy”
Admittedly, with Russian investigator Mark Galeotti he calls the story of the plans to kill Czech officials “probably a fantasy.” The last time the Kremlin used castor oil to poison its opponents was in 1981.
“It is extremely deadly, but easily identifiable in the body,” the analyst wrote in a comment to The Moscow Times.
Arno Strumilos / 15min photo / Mark Galeotti
According to Galeotti, Russia and the Czech Republic had already closed their borders at the time of the diplomat’s arrival, only a few flights arrive and depart from airports, making the killer’s arrival very clearly visible.
Galeotti writes in The Moscow Times that such an operation requires several people and would be easy to identify under quarantine conditions. Furthermore, such a move would be a major escalation.
The analyst noted that not only have Russia’s “enemies” been assassinated in foreign countries recently, but, in Putin’s words, “traitors” who once swore allegiance to the Russian state. Among them: S. Skripalis, Alexander Litvinenka, Zelimchan Changoshville was recently killed in Berlin.
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