Russia Rebuffs Allegations of Czech Blast, Plans Retaliation
- EU, NATO member state joins international pressure on Russia
- Russia will likely be barred from $7 billion nuclear project
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Russia rejected the Czech government’s allegations that it was involved in a deadly blast at a munitions site in 2014, signaling possible retaliation for the expulsion of 18 staffers from its embassy in Prague.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s unexpected announcement late on Saturday coincides with growing concern in the U.S. and Europe about Russia’s military buildup on the border with Ukraine and treatment of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalney. Foreign Minister Jan Hamacek likened the explosion, which killed two people at a private munitions warehouse, to the 2018 poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England. Moscow said the accusations are “beyond absurd.”