Russia expels 20 Czech diplomats in retaliatory move

Russia gives diplomats just over 24 hours to leave the country, in response to Czech expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats.

Russia on Sunday expelled 20 Czech diplomats in retaliation for a slew of diplomatic expulsions by Prague and gave the affected Czech diplomats just over 24 hours to leave the country, the RIA news agency quoted the foreign ministry as saying. The Czech Republic on Saturday expelled 18 Russian diplomats after saying that two alleged Russian spies accused of a nerve agent poisoning in Britain in 2018 were behind a deadly explosion at a Czech ammunition depot four years earlier. In an earlier statement on Sunday, the Russian foreign ministry called the Czech announcement “absurd”.