Disinfo: No evidence of Moscow's involvement in 2014 Vrbetice explosion

Summary

Czech intelligence have implicated the Russian GRU agency in the 2014 explosion of an ammo depot in Vrbetice. The timing of the accusations is very strange, given that they were used as grounds for excluding Russia from a multi-billion dollar tender for the planned renovation of the Dukovany NPP.

The Czech authorities have refused to publish the evidence of Russia's alleged involvement in the incident, forcing the national public to accept these accusations on blind faith.

Disproof

The story advances a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative which automatically dismisses any accusations against the Kremlin, no matter how well-founded, as trumped-up anti-Russian smears.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Interior Jan Hamacek announced on Saturday 17 April 2021 that the Czech intelligence services collected evidence demonstrating Russian involvement in the 2014 Vrbětice explosion. More specifically, it implicates Unit 29155, a division of Russia's GRU agency previously linked to "assassination attempts and other subversive actions across Europe."

Mr Hamáček stated it was not possible to publish the whole report of the Security Information Service, but that all information which can be made public was already released.

Prague's findings were independently corroborated in the course of an investigation jointly conducted by Bellingcat, The Insider (Russia), Der Spiegel (Germany), and Respekt.cz (Czech Republic).

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cz.sputniknews.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 240
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 21/04/2021
  • Article language(s) Czech
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Czech Republic, Russia
  • Keywords: GRU, Russophobia, Anti-Russian, Diplomacy with Russia, Vrbetice explosion
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