Czechs Expel Two Russian Diplomats Over Hoax Poison Plot

It was initially reported  that a Russian man had entered Prague with an unspecified quantity of ricin in his suitcase, intent on using it against a number of public figures in the Czech Republic. The man was apparently  picked up by a car bearing Russian diplomatic plates and taken to the Russian embassy, not far from one of the suspected targets office.  At the time Czech TV named the supposed perpetrator as Andrei Konchakov, head of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Prague, who rubbished the story saying he had merely brought "disinfectant and sweets" in his suitcase.

It now transpires that the whole thing was a hoax, fabricated by an employee at the Russian embassy. "One embassy employee sent deliberately made-up information about a planned attack on Czech politicians to BIS," said Prime Minister Andrej Babis, referring to the Czech intelligence service. Andrej Babis also told reporters "The whole case arose as a result of an internal struggle between employees of the Russian embassy in Prague, when one of them sent deliberately made-up information to the Security Information Service (BIS) about a planned attack against Czech politicians."