Petříček, fired last Monday, knew about Russian explosion connection

The former Czech minister of foreign affairs Tomáš Petříček, who was dismissed last Monday, says he had been aware of the involvement of Russian agents in an explosion at a Czech munitions store in 2014 that left two dead.

Speaking to the news outlet Deník N, Mr. Petříček said Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s announcement of the Russian connection on Saturday evening had not been a surprise to him as the information had had been at his disposition.

Questions are being asked about how long senior government figures knew about the accusation. The minister of the interior, Jan Hamáček, late last week announced a planned trip to Moscow to discuss Sputnik V and says he cancelled it on learning about the case.