Czechs expel Russian diplomats and identify pair wanted over Novichok attack

The two were using Russian passports and were identified as Alexander Petrov, 41, and Ruslan Boshirov, 43

A policeman walks by a poster attached by protesters to a gate of the Russian embassy in Prague. Picture: Petr David Josek/AP

The Czech Republic has announced that it is expelling 18 Russian diplomats who it has identified as spies in a case related to a huge ammunition depot explosion in 2014.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis said the move is based on “unequivocal evidence” provided by the Czech intelligence and security services that points to the involvement of Russian military agents in the massive explosion in an eastern town that killed “two innocent fathers”.