Russia expels 20 Czech diplomats in tit-for-tat move

Russia has expelled 20 Czech diplomats, giving them until midnight on Monday to leave the country. The move came after the Czech Republic said it had clear evidence that Russia was behind deadly explosions at a munitions depot in Moravia in 2014 and ordered 18 Russian diplomats identified as spies to leave the country.

The Czech ambassador to Moscow, Vítězslav Pivoňka, will remain in his post, though his deputy, Luboš Veselý, is among those who has been thrown out.

The Czech interior minister, Jan Hamáček, said the expulsions were a high price, but one that the Czech Republic was willing to pay. Prague is sending a government plane to pick up the diplomats.