-
Moscow and the Czech Republic expel each other’s diplomats’ in a conflict over Russia’s sabotage campaign in Europe.
-
The Czech Republic also canceled a nuclear deal with Russia for a good measure.
-
“The project was important not only for the revenue for Russia but also for the impact on local affairs,” a source told Insider.
-
See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Russia on Monday announced the expulsion of at least 20 Czech diplomats in a furious response to the destruction of Moscow’s main intelligence base in Central Europe over the weekend, when Czech authorities accused Russian intelligence of being behind two explosions in 2014. ammunition storage facility. .
The Czech Republic accuses a notorious Russian intelligence unit involved in multiple operations across Europe and the United Kingdom of carrying out two operations in 2014 that led to explosions at an ammunition factory in 2014. At the time, it was said that the ammunition was on its way to the Russian rivals in Ukraine. . After an almost seven-year investigation into the explosions, the Czech authorities set out the ties between the Russian intelligence agency the GRU – including passports used in the 2018 Salisbury poisoning by suspected GRU agents – and Russian intelligence officials from Prague. expelled.
“Prague is an important station for [Russian intelligence] ‘because it has a semi-friendly government and its central location within the European Union is an excellent logistics hub for operations,’ ‘a central European intelligence official who monitors Russian operations in the area told Insider.
The 18 ‘diplomats’ kicked out of the Czech Republic are well-known intelligence officials of [various Russian services] and was not only involved in operations on Czechs, but also on much of Europe, “the official said. For operational purposes, I am not sure there is a more important EU station for the Russians outside Berlin. “
The Russian diplomatic mission to the Czech Republic has about 120 diplomats and personnel, Czech officials said, more than twice the size of the missions to countries of relatively large size or the size of the Czech mission to Russia. Russia on Monday suspended 20 Czech diplomats in retaliation for the move over the weekend.
Czechs have also banned a Russian company from offering billions of euros for contracts to maintain the Dukovany nuclear power plant.
“The loss of so many intelligence officers will reduce the amount of activity and capabilities of the Russians for the time being,” the central European official said. “And Putin will now see the losses of billions of contracts from the nuclear sector. The project was important not only for the revenue for Russia, but also for the impact on local affairs that the contract would give.”
“This is a real punishment for the Russians, but I remain skeptical that these kinds of things affect their behavior, although it is possible that some intelligence officials have to explain how they could be caught in such a sensitive and critical area as the Czechs, “said a NATO army. intelligence officer.
The 2014 incident that sparked the confrontation began when two men – who would become world famous years later after allegations that they carried out the Salisbury poisoning – entered the Czech Republic under one set of passports, but under a second set of passports. requested an ammunition production plant.
The ammunition was in the possession of a Bulgarian arms dealer who would be poisoned a year later by the same deadly nerve agent used in Salisbury. The explosion at the facility that killed two Czech workers in what was then considered an accident.
But after Salisbury, the Russian unit – identified by Western intelligence as unit 29155 of the GRU – was exposed and both Czech officials and investigators from public sources could easily link the movements of Russian officials to a series of operations across Europe that Putin’s directed enemies. .
Read the original article on Business Insider