Russia expels 20 Czech diplomats in tit-fortat response
Moscow has expelled 20 Czech diplomats in a tit-for-tat response after Prague accused Russian military intelligence of setting off a deadly blast at an ammunition warehouse in 2014.
Video from Moscow showed the Czech ambassador being summoned to the foreign affairs ministry where he was informed that four-fifths of his diplomatic envoys would be given 24 hours to depart the country.
Czech authorities said on Sunday that they would expel 18 Russian diplomats owing to suspicions that Russia was behind a blast at a warehouse containing 58 tonnes of ammunition near the eastern Czech village of Vrbětice in 2014. Two people were killed in the explosion.
Reports have said some of the ammunition may have been destined for the Ukrainian army, which was fighting a Russian-backed offensive following the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Western intelligence sources are confident that the Czech authorities’ investigation is well founded and have pointed to the 29155 GRU unit, which specialises in deadly undercover operations across Europe and was previously implicated in a poisoning attack on a Bulgarian arms dealer.
The revelations of Moscow’s alleged role in the deadly act of sabotage will disrupt recent cooperation between the two countries. A Czech minister has said the Russian state company Rosatom is likely to be excluded from a $7bn tender to build a nuclear power plant at Dukovany. The Czech Republic has been seen as a relative ally of Russia in the EU, and Prague is a hotspot for Russian intelligence activity.
On Saturday Czech police said they had issued warrants for the arrest of two Russian men, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov – the same names as those used by the suspects in the 2018 Salisbury poisonings targeting the former GRU officer Sergei Skripal. Their real names were revealed to be Alexander Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga.
The revelations of Moscow’s use of a nerve agent in Europe led to more than 100 Russian diplomats being expelled from western capitals, prompting a similar response from Moscow.
The Czech republic’s acting foreign minister, Jan Hamáček, on Monday called for the UK and other European governments to consider expelling Russian diplomats in support of Prague.
“We really appreciate the voice of the UK and we are hearing similar support from the EU and the US. We would obviously ask for solidarity and I have
asked my colleagues also to consider expelling other Russian officials that operate on their territory,” he told Sky News.
The new expulsions take place during the worst diplomatic row since 2018, as the US has expelled Russian diplomats and sanctioned Moscow for its election interference and cyberespionage campaigns. Moscow has responded by expelling US diplomats and targeting the embassy, including calling for the US ambassador, John Sullivan, to leave the country.
Italy expelled two Russian diplomats last month on suspicion of spying after an Italian naval captain was caught selling secrets to the GRU. Moscow and Kyiv are set to expel each other’s diplomats after the Ukrainian consul to St Petersburg was arrested by the FSB. Russia has been massing military units on the Ukrainian border, sparking concerns of an invasion.
The GRU unit alleged to be behind the explosion in the Czech arms warehouse was also involved in a failed coup in Montenegro in 2016 and disinformation operations in Moldova in 2014.
About 15 to 20 elite GRU officers are thought to make up the unit, which has a secret HQ in the Skhodnya area of Moscow. It functioned as a diversionary cell, sent deep behind enemy lines, with a base in south-east France, close to the Swiss border. After Salisbury, it appears to have been disbanded.