Skripal Hit Men Blamed for the Blast Shaking Czech-Russia Ties

(Bloomberg) -- The Czech Republic blamed the same Russian agents accused of poisoning former spy Sergei Skripal in the U.K. for a deadly 2014 blast that has done the worst damage to Prague-Moscow ties since the fall of communism.

But the Czechs avoided escalating the standoff on Monday. Both sides have expelled a record number of diplomats amid growing concern in the U.S. and Europe about Russia’s military buildup on the border with Ukraine and treatment of jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said Monday the alleged involvement of Russia’s GRU intelligence service in the blast, which killed two people, forced the evacuation of hundreds more from surrounding villages, and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage, wasn’t an act of “state terrorism.”

“It wasn’t an attack by Russia against the Czech Republic,” Babis told a news conference on Monday. “But it is unacceptable for us that GRU agents have been carrying out this operation here and even more they botched it.”

Chief Prosecutor Pavel Zeman confirmed that the two suspects used the identities of Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, as well as passports with other names, when they traveled within the Czech Republic for about a week in October 2014.

They’re the same men the U.K. identified as alleged Russian operatives behind the poisoning of former agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury four years later.

Czech authorities suspect them of trying to destroy about 50 tons of export-bound munitions belonging to a Bulgarian arms dealer and believe that the shipment was meant to explode after it left the country. The weapons merchant, Emilian Gebrev, later survived a poisoning attack in Bulgaria that police there said was also linked to the Skripal attack.

Read More: Bulgaria Names Russians Charged in Skripal-Linked Arms Case

The diplomatic conflict is a further blow for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as it may have shattered his ties with a vocal supporter among political leaders in Europe.

While Czech cabinets have traditionally stuck with their NATO and European Union allies, the country’s president, Milos Zeman, has been one of the most vocal political leaders in Europe’s advocating for closer ties with Moscow and Beijing.

He has opposed U.S. or EU penalties for Russia’s role the conflict in Ukraine and the poisoning Skripal. This time, in a rare act of unity, Zeman took the government’s side against Putin.

Earlier on Monday, Russia said the expulsion of its diplomats from Prague was meant to distract from reports of an alleged attempt to seize power in Belarus, saying the coup plot was hatched in consultation with the U.S. It accused Washington of manipulating the Czechs with “made-up pretexts.”

“In their haste to please the U.S. after the recent American sanctions against Russia, the Czech authorities have even outdone their overseas masters,” the ministry said in a statement.

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