Russian Intelligence head on expulsion of Czech diplomats

The head of the Russian Intelligence Service Yevgeny Naryshkin said Friday the Czech Republic had "paid" for" its confrontation with Russia after a likewise expulsion of diplomats.

Russia has ordered 20 Czech diplomats to leave the country within a day in response to Prague's expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats it identified as spies in a case related to a huge ammunition depot explosion.

Naryshkin said the Czech Republic "went on a rather acute aggravation of confrontation with Russia, and it paid for it," adding that "the country covered its actions with such pathetic and undignified lies,"

Interior Minister Jan Hamacek, who is also serving as the country's foreign minister, said the 18 Russian embassy staffers were clearly identified as spies from the GRU and SVR, Russia's military and foreign intelligence services.

At the same time, the Czech police's organised crime unit published photos of two foreign citizens who visited the country, including where the depot was located, between October 11 and October 16 in 2014 and asked the public for any information about them.

The two were using Russian passports and were identified as Alexander Petrov,  41, and Ruslan Boshirov, 43.

Petrov and Boshirov were charged in absentia by Britain in 2018 for trying to kill former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok.