Vlachovice ammunition depot

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The Vlachovice ammunition depot is located in the Vrbětice district of the Vlachovice municipality in the Zlin region of the Czech Republic . The ammunition depot was leased to private operators by the Czech army . From October 16, 2014, explosions occurred over a period of several months, and the building itself burned down. Two people were killed in the first explosion. On December 3, 2014, the neighboring ammunition depot in Vrbětice also exploded. After the explosions, Czech soldiers spent two years defusing duds and making the area safe again.

The Russian intelligence services GRU and SWR , specifically Unit 29155 , were held responsible for the explosions . This would have shown investigations by the Czech security forces, as the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced to the media on April 17, 2021. According to the Czech media, the reason for the attacks on the ammunition dump was a planned delivery of weapons from Vrbĕtice to Ukraine , which pursued interests that were opposed to those of Russia during the war in Ukraine since 2014 and the Crimean crisis . In response, the Czech government expelled a total of 18 employees from the Russian embassy in the country, whereupon the Russian government in turn expelled 16 Czech diplomats and four employees without diplomatic status on April 18, 2021. Thereafter, the Czech government excluded Russia from the tender for the expansion of the Dukovany nuclear power plant .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Heitmann: "Absurd, dangerous": Probably the most unsafe ammunition depot in the Czech Republic. In: welt.de . December 12, 2014, accessed October 7, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Martin Nejezchleba: munitions factory Czech Republic: Vlachovice mayor explosions. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved April 19, 2021 .
  3. ↑ a b The Czech Republic has 18 Russian embassy employees. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved April 19, 2021 .
  4. ^ Niels Köhler: Andrej Babiš: Second ammunition depot in Vrbětice did not explode by accident. Finance minister directs suspicion to the private operator of the warehouse. In: prag aktuell. Medialink Communications Consult sro, December 7, 2014, accessed on April 18, 2021 (author abbreviation nk).
  5. ↑ Niels Köhler: Another ammunition store in the Czech Republic explodes. Residents evacuated, police are investigating suspected intent. In: prag aktuell. Medialink Communications Consult sro, December 4, 2014, accessed on April 18, 2021 (author abbreviation nk).
  6. ↑ a b Russia threatens the Czech Republic with "retaliation" after diplomats have been expelled. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved April 19, 2021 .
  7. ↑ JetztZeit.Blog - Tomas Marik: Breaking News: Russian agents carried out a terrorist attack on a Czech ammunition dump . In: JetztZeit.Blog. April 17, 2021, accessed April 18, 2021 .
  8. ^ After the expulsion of Russian diplomats - Moscow in turn expels 20 Czech embassy employees. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved April 19, 2021 .
  9. ↑ The Czech Republic excludes Russia from an order for a nuclear power plant worth billions. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved April 19, 2021 .

Coordinates: 49 ° 6 ′ 44.2 ″  N , 17 ° 55 ′ 25 ″  E