It was decided that a minimum of 18 Russian Diplomats were to be expelled from the Czech Republic over an explosion that took place in 2014. This comes after evidence was found by the Czech security services of the Russian intelligence’s involvement in the 2014 explosion, which also resulted in two deaths.
Russia has since responded by ordering 20 Czech Diplomats to leave Russia after being declared personae non-gratae. Slovakia also took action and has expelled three Russian embassy staff members to show their support for the Czech Republic.
What exactly happened in the 2014 explosion?
The 2014 explosion happened in the village of Vrbetice at an ammunition depot, where 50 metric tons of stored ammunition was blown up resulting in the deaths of two individuals. Up until the recent allegations towards Russian intelligence, it has never been disclosed to the public just what the cause of the explosion was. The president of the Czech Senate Mylos Vystrcil went as far as to say that the explosion could be considered as an act of “state terrorism.”
There was a total of two explosions, but the village of Venice, other surrounding areas and villages had been evacuated before the second explosion happened. The second explosion happened 1.2 kilometres away from the first explosion’s epicentre, so further evacuations were needed for surrounding areas. After the second large explosion, smaller bursts continued until the middle of December, almost two months after the initial explosion erupted.
Why are 18 Russian Diplomats being expelled from the Czech Republic?
Czech Republic’s Prime Minister Andrej Babis has stated last week that based on “unequivocal evidence” and “well-founded suspicion” found by Czech security services that there was Russian involvement in the 2014 explosions. The involvement comes in the form of the secretive Unit 29155 of Russia’s GRU military intelligence service. The investigations are still ongoing; however, Babis believes that the Czech Republic, “is a sovereign state and must respond accordingly to unprecedented findings.”
Two names that have been linked to the 2014 explosions are of great significance, Alexander Petrov, and Ruslan Boshirov. These are the same names of the suspects accused of attempting to assassinate former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with poison in the UK in 2018.
Czech Interior Minister, Jan Hamacek, has expressed they believe that the Czech Republic is, “in a similar situation to the United Kingdom,” due to the nature of the incident and the fact that the suspects are the same.
The then Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Bohuslav Sobotka said that they believe the 2014 explosions were, “the biggest Russian attack on Czech soil,” ever since the Soviet Union invasion of Czechoslovakia back in 1968. This is an outlook on the situation that is being widely shared among Czech Officials, and Hamacek believes that the outcome of this will weaken Czech-Russian relations for the future.
How has Russia responded to the claims made?
Moscow has since responded by ordering 20 Czech Diplomats to leave Russia, after declaring them personae non-gratae. Russian officials have denied any involvement in the 2014 explosions, and the Deputy Head of the Committee for Foreign Affairs in the Federation Council has said that “this is just a contrived situation to support the Americans.” They also labelled the current accusations being made accusing Russia of any involvement as “nonsense.”
Relations between Russia and the US have also recently worsened with the increased Russian military presence at the Ukraine border and prohibiting access to the Black Sea to carry out military exercises. NATO has also confirmed the preparation of a North Atlantic Council meeting, in which a Czech top Diplomat will also attend.
This comes after Czech officials have wished for NATO to put pressure on Moscow regarding recent events, as they believe that Russia has taken “disproportionate” measures to respond to the accusations.
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