PRAGUE (AP) – The two Russian military agents believed to be behind a massive explosion of Czech depots in 2014 were likely to target ammunition, not the Czech Republic, the country’s prime minister and attorney general said on Monday.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis said he did not consider Russian action as an “act of state terrorism”, but said that “the presence of GRU agents is absolutely unacceptable”.
“We are a sovereign state and it is unacceptable for foreign agents to do these operations here,” Babis said.
On Sunday, Russia ordered 20 Czech diplomats to leave the country in a day in response to the Czech government’s expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats it identified as spies for the GRU and the SVR, military and foreign intelligence services. of Russia. The two sides sent government planes on Monday to take the envoys and their families home.
Pavel Zeman, the Czech Attorney General, said the target ammunition was intended primarily to be sent to an arms dealer in Bulgaria and intentionally exploded after delivery. The 2014 tank explosion in the town of Vrbetice killed two people.
“The explosion was not to occur in the territory of the Czech Republic,” Zeman said.
Zeman said the two Russian suspects were using fake identities on passports from Tajikistan and Moldova when they booked a visit to the depot. They stayed in Prague and the eastern city of Ostrava, a two-hour drive from the depot, located in the east of the Czech Republic.
The suspects also used Russian passports to travel to the Czech Republic.
Their names and photographs matched two Russians whom British authorities accused in absentia in 2018 of trying to kill Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with Soviet nervous agent Novichok in the English city of Salisbury.
“The two were identified as the attackers in Salisbury in 2018,” Zeman said.
Zeman said that because the investigation has not been completed, authorities cannot reveal further details about the case and rejected Babis’ request to publish them. Babis said his government is considering demanding compensation from the Russians for damages.
Czech Republic Interior Minister Jan Hamacek, who is also the acting foreign minister, said Monday that the Russian expulsion of Czech diplomats effectively paralyzed the Czech embassy in Moscow.
“We had to wait for that to happen, but the Czech Republic has done nothing wrong,” Hamacek said. “We are the victims of Russian actions.”
Babis said the Czechs will “certainly” respond to what is seen as a disproportionate Russian measure.
The Czech government also decided not to allow the state-controlled Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom to participate in a tender for the planned construction of a nuclear reactor at the Dukovany nuclear plant.
Czech intelligence services have warned on several occasions that they will not allow Russian and Chinese companies to bid for the multimillion-dollar tender, saying they pose a security risk due to ties with their respective governments.