Czechia Prime Minister Andrej Babis has accused Russian intelligence services of involvement in a 2014 explosion at a depot in Vrbetice that killed two people. /Petr David Josek
Czechia Prime Minister Andrej Babis has accused Russian intelligence services of engineering an explosion at an ammunition depot at a factory in 2014 – and Russia has responded by threatening "retaliatory measures."
Eighteen Russian envoys, identified by Czechia as secret service personnel, have also been expelled from the embassy and will be ordered to leave the country within 48 hours.
Speaking on Saturday in a live public address to the nation, Babis said he had "well-grounded suspicion about the involvement of officers of the Russian intelligence service GRU in the explosion of an ammunitions depot in the Vrbetice area."
On Sunday, Russia's foreign ministry released a statement saying "We will take retaliatory measures that will force the authors of this provocation to fully understand their responsibility for destroying the foundation of normal ties between our countries."
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Back in October 2014 several explosions shook the Vrbetice depot, 330 kilometers southeast of Prague. Two employees of a private company that was renting the site from a state military organization were killed.
In 2015 Czechia was accused of allowing arms manufacturers to supply Ukraine during the conflict with Russia. The reports were strongly denied by Prague officials, who told TASS news agency it "decisively restricts its arms export policy in relation to Ukraine."
Babis says the 2014 incident was "unprecedented and scandalous" but Russian news agency Interfax cited politician Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the upper house's international affairs committee, as calling the accusations "absurd" and saying Russia should respond "proportionately."
On Twitter, the U.S. embassy in Prague tweeted a message of support to Czechia, stating that Washington "stands with its steadfast ally, the Czech Republic. We appreciate their significant action to impose costs on Russia for its dangerous actions on Czech soil."
Protestors tied a flag to the gates of the Russian embassy in Prague after 18 Russian diplomats, whom the Czechs defined as spies, were told to leave the country. /AP
Meanwhile, Czechia police have suggested there could be a link between the depot explosion and the figures involved in the poisoning of Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK in 2018.
Officials have confirmed they are searching for two men who go by the names of Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov in relation to serious criminal activity. Those are the same two names used by the men responsible for the 2018 Salisbury poisoning.
Police said both men were believed to have been in Czechia from October 11 until October 16, 2014, the day of the explosion. They were first in Prague and later in the eastern regions, which is where the depot is based.
However, Russia seems to have ruled out extraditing the men. An unnamed source told Interfax: "Russia's main law prohibits the extradition to a foreign state of Russian citizens accused of committing a crime on the territory of a foreign state."
Video editor: Steve Ager