Deník N: Czech authorities want to deport Russian living 20 years in Prague over alleged connection to Kremlin

The Czech authorities want to deport Russian-born Alexandr Stěpanov, who has been living in Czechia for almost 20 years, back to Russia, because they say he has connections with the Russian state and may pose a danger to the Czech Republic, Deník N reported on Monday.

According to the Czech authorities, Stěpanov had contacts with the Russian diplomats involved in the 2020 ricin scandal, when a Russian embassy employee brought the poisonous substance ricin to Czechia and through an anonymous email to the Czech secret service, tried to make it look like his colleague, with whom he had a feud, was involved in a plot to assassinate three Prague politicians - a plot which turned out to be entirely fictitious. Both the diplomats involved were expelled from the country following the case.

Stěpanov denies cooperating with the Russian secret service and has been trying to fight the decision to deport him in court for a year. According to Deník N, the authorities decided to revoke his permanent residence in Czechia based on one classified piece of information from the Czech intelligence services.