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Vrbetice fake news story tarnishing Czech-Russian relations, says diplomat

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman described the remarks made by the Czech authorities about Moscow’s involvement in the blast at the Vrbetice ammunition depot as "caricature"

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. The disinformation about the incident at an ammunition depot in the Czech village of Vrbetice has unleashed a mechanism to destroy relations between Prague and Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the 60 Minutes show on the Russia-1 TV channel on Monday.

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Zakharova described the remarks made by the Czech authorities about Russia’s involvement in the blast at the Vrbetice ammunition depot as "caricature."

She stressed that "a swiftly concocted fake [story]" can become "the foundation for triggering a mechanism to destroy Russian-Czech relations."

"To our great regret, this is what is going on now," the diplomat stated.

On April 17, Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Czech First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jan Hamacek who is also acting foreign minister announced the expulsion of 18 employees of the Russian Embassy in Prague, who were allegedly "officers of Russian intelligence services." The move came over the ‘newly-revealed’ allegations about the 2014 blast at the ammunition depot in the village of Vrbetice. In response, Russia declared 20 staff members of the Czech Embassy in Moscow personae non gratae.

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