Russian GRU spies behind 2018 Salisbury poisonings also destroyed Czech ammo stores killing two in 2014 blasts having used same fake names for the covert operation, probe finds

Investigations have revealed that the same Russian spy unit behind the Salisbury poisonings was responsible for two deadly explosions at ammunition depots in the Czech Republic in 2018.

Explosions near the eastern Czech village of Vrbetice in 2014 killed two workers and caused extensive damage – four years before an assassination attempt on former Russian agent Sergei Skripal in the English town.

Czech authorities announced in 2021 that they had received evidence of Russian involvement in the explosions and expelled 18 Russian diplomats from the country.

Police in the country said today they have suspended the investigation – which was conducted in cooperation with British police – involving Russia’s secret service, citing Moscow’s reluctance to cooperate.

However, the Czech National Central Office against Organized Crime (NCOZ) said in its report that “the police authority considers it proven that the explosions […] were carried out by members of the Russian Military Intelligence Service, the Main Administration of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (also known as the GRU).”

The unit’s motive was “to prevent the supply of weapons and ammunition to the areas where the Russian army conducted operations,” NCOZ said.

At the time, it was reported that the ammunition was likely to be transferred to Ukraine in its fight against pro-Kremlin separatists in the east, or to Syria to help opposition forces fight the regime of Bashar al-Assad – a Russian ally.

The blasts in NATO member state the Czech Republic came just months after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in early 2014, sparking anger in the West.

The explosions killed two people, forced more than a thousand people to leave their homes and took six years for police to clear the area of ​​ammunition.

Russia has long been suspected of waging a shadow war across Europe, with secret units following the Kremlin’s orders.

Czech police said the explosions in Vrbetice were “part of long-term diversion operations of Russian military intelligence on the territory of the EU and Ukraine.”

Czech intelligence services and media said the agents were the same ones suspected of poisoning former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England, in 2018: Alexander Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga.

The pair used the same false names they later used in Britain in the attack on the Skripals – Ruslan Boshirov [Chepiga] and Alexander Petrov [Miskin].

The Russian agents belonged to the infamous GRU unit 29155.

Although the report did not name Chepiga and Mishkin, their identities were released as being the suspects and reported by Russian independent news channel The Insider.

The same publication – together with partners 60 Minutes and Der Spiegel – also determined that the unit is likely the cause of Havana Syndrome, the name given to a series of debilitating medical conditions that afflict US intelligence officers and diplomats around the world. camps that otherwise remain unexplained.

NCOZ said it suspended the case because Russia, which has led a full-scale invasion of Ukraine since February 2022, had refused to cooperate while the suspects are safe in Russia.

“It is not possible to obtain the necessary information from the Russian army and Russian secret services and… the police have decided to suspend the case,” a police statement said.

Moscow has refused to allow Mishkin and Chepiga to be interrogated because “the Czech request could harm the sovereignty, public order and important interests of the Russian Federation.” This means that they cannot be officially charged in Prague.

The men only became suspects in the Czech Republic after their failed attempt to kill Skripal in Britain.

It is now known that they arrived in Prague on October 11, 2014 to stage the explosions at the ammunition depot.

Chepiga and Mishkin are still wanted in Britain for the murder of local woman Dawn Sturgess – who was poisoned by the military-grade nerve agent Novichok – and the attempted murder of Skripal and his daughter.

The pair went on Russian state television in a farcical interview under their assumed names to emphasize that they were tourists visiting Salisbury Cathedral.

According to The initiate in their own investigation, Chepiga and Mishkin were able to carry out the attack with the help of a pair of Russian sleeper agents – Nikolay and Elena Šapošnikov – who had lived as Czech citizens for decades.

The report says that Elena Šapošnikov is a member of the GRU’s infamous unit 29155, and that she and her husband arranged for Mishkin and Chepiga to gain access to the warehouses in Vrbětice.

The publication says the Šapošnikov family are the first “illegals” directly linked to Unit 29155, which is tasked with discreetly carrying out Russia and Putin’s bidding abroad.

It says that although both of Šapošnikov’s husbands engaged in espionage for Russia, Elena appears to be the only one integrated within the secret unit.

Czech investigators have found that she likely directed and supervised the activities of her husband and possibly her son in support of Russian interests.

According to the Insider, Nikolay died of a heart attack in February 2024, while Czech authorities await a decision from Greece on whether they can extradite Elena back to the Czech Republic to face criminal charges.

Czech intelligence published details of the 2021 blasts, which led to the mass mutual expulsion of dozens of diplomats and other embassy staff.

Moscow later labeled the Czech Republic as “an unfriendly state” that “has taken unfriendly actions” against Russia.

Media said the explosions outside the depot should have occurred to destroy weapons owned by a Bulgarian trader and possibly destined for Ukraine.

The Czech Republic, a member of the EU and NATO with a population of 10.9 million, has provided significant humanitarian and military aid to Kiev since the start of the Russian invasion.