“The Russians knew in advance that the Czech Republic had evidence of the involvement of their secret agents in the explosions of ammunition depots in 2014. So the Russians were obviously ready for this and adapted their strategy,” Beroun said.
According to him, messages about the insolvency of the Czech version began to appear on social networks even before its official publication. Therefore, the head of the Czech intelligence considers it important to monitor social networks, since “sometimes through them you can understand what to expect in the near future.”
“We definitely see an increased activity of various pro-Russian social networks, misinformation and distorted interpretations of facts. This was evident even in advance, even before [чешские власти] informed the public about the incident, “he said.
Beroun also said that he had no information that any of the Czech officials planned to hide information about the involvement of Russian security officials in the explosions at the ammunition depots.
On May 4, the Czech edition of Seznam Zpravy, citing several sources, wrote that Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic wanted to agree on the non-disclosure of this data in exchange for the supply of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Gamachek himself categorically denies this information and promised to sue the newspaper, said News.
- The crisis in relations between the Czech Republic and Russia flared up in April. Czech authorities stated that Russians Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov involved in explosions in 2014 at ammunition depots in the village of Vrbetice. Then two people died. According to investigative journalists, Petrov and Boshirov are officers of Russian military intelligence… It is their called poisoners Russian ex-intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in 2018 in the UK. The Russians were put on the wanted list.
- On April 17, Gamachek announced that, within 48 hours, 18 Russian diplomats must leave the country, since they “were clearly identified by the special services of the Czech Republic as officers of the Russian special services.”
- April 18th Russia has declared 20 employees of the Czech embassy persona non grata, including the deputy ambassador, and demanded that they leave the country by the end of the day on April 19.
- The Russian Foreign Ministry believes that there is an “American trace” in the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the Czech Republic, and the Kremlin categorically disagrees with the conclusions of the Czech side about the involvement of Russian agents in organizing the explosion and considers these findings “provocative and unfriendly”.
- The Czech Foreign Ministry reported on April 22 about reduction in the number of employees of the Russian embassy in Prague to the current number of the Czech diplomatic mission in Moscow. The Czech Republic will send out 22 Russian diplomats by the end of May. In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded to reduce the composition of the embassy Czech Republic.
- Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Slovakia expelled Russian diplomats in solidarity with the Czech Republic. Moreover, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, Latvia and Lithuania noted that the matter is not only in support of the Czech Republic, but also in the behavior of employees of the Russian embassies in their countries, “incompatible with their diplomatic status.”
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