Czech police confirm GRU involvement in the 2014 Vrbetice explosions
Details
The perpetrators are implicated in the 2018 poisoning of the Skripals in the UK.
A Czech investigation has confirmed that the 2014 explosions at weapons depots in the village of Vrbětice were carried out by members of Russian military intelligence (GRU).
According to Jiří Mazánek, head of the National Center for Combating Organized Crime of the Czech Republic Police, the purpose of the GRU was "to prevent the delivery of weapons and ammunition to areas where the Russian army conducted its operations" - primarily in Syria and Ukraine.
The police report did not mention the names of the GRU officers, but earlier investigators and journalists named Anatoly Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin. They are wanted in Britain as being involved in the 2018 poisoning of former Soviet spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.
The Vrbetica arms depot explosions occurred in October and December 2014. As a result, two people were killed and there was extensive material damage. Czech authorities announced suspicion of Russian military intelligence agents in mid-April 2021.
The Kremlin immediately began to categorically deny its involvement in the bombings. The police even had to close the case for a while because Russia refused to cooperate with the Czech investigation.
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Memorial to the fallen Moldovan soldiers of the Transnistrian War in Chisinau. Photo: Alexander Moisseenko
Thirty-three years ago, a ceasefire brought an end to the Transnistrian War—sometimes described by locals as the Russian-Moldovan War. Although the tensions officially ended in 1992, its consequences continue to shape Moldovan politics, society, and security — especially in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections.
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