You're reading: New York Times: Prague says ricin plot was a hoax, and moves to expel two Russians

New York Times: Prague says ricin plot was a hoax, and moves to expel two Russians

Published June 7, 2020. Updated June 7 at 7:13 am

A worker touches the statue of Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Stepanovic Konev as it is made ready for removal on April 3, 2020 in Prague.

Photo by AFP

Russia on Friday denounced a decision by the Czech Republic to expel two Russian diplomats over an alleged ricin poison plot that Czech officials now believe was a hoax engineered as part of internal quarrels in Moscow’s embassy in Prague. The Russian Embassy described the Czech order giving the diplomats 48 hours to leave as a “fabricated provocation.”