RUSSIA announced Sunday that 20 diplomats from the Czech Republic will be expelled from the country. The Czech Republic expelled 18 Russian diplomats Saturday. Czech local intelligence agents claim the diplomats are Russian intelligence operatives. They are suspected of involvement in an explosion at an arms depot in 2014. European Union foreign ministers are set to discuss the claims about the blast. Moscow has given the Czech diplomats a day to leave while the Czech Republic has given the Russians 72 hours. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the Czech decision “unprecedented” and a “hostile act.” “In their desire to please the United States against the background of recent U.S. sanctions against Russia, Czech authorities in this respect even outdid their masters from across the pond,” said a foreign ministry statement. Czech authorities say the diplomats are believed to be intelligence operatives, claims the Russians have classed as unfounded and absurd. The explosion tore apart an ammunition storage depot in a forest at Vrbetice in the Czech Republic on Oct. 16, 2014. Czech Police have identified two suspects in connection with the blast — Alexander Mishkin and Anatoly Chepigov. (SD-Agencies) |