DISINFO: The Skripal affair was forgotten because after two years no essential evidence was found
SUMMARY
The Czech Republic accused Russia of attempting to poison officials who demolished the Marshal Konev monument. These accusations remind us of the Skripal affair which everyone forgot because no essential evidence was ever found.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative attempting to delegitimise any criticism of Russian actions by presenting it as a manifestation of the West's "anti-Russian" provocations. In fact, incidents such as the Skripal case and the downing of MH17 are well-documented cases of acts of Kremlin-enabled violence outside Russia. Although the entirety of evidence against Russia in the Skripal case has not been made public, the evidence in the public domain is very significant and leaves no room for doubt. Two operatives of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (known as its former Russian acronym GRU) have been identified by UK Police Authorities as the chief suspects. Their identities have been further studied by investigastion network Bellingcat: Anatoliy Chepiga and Aleksandr Mishkin. The monument in Prague to Marshall Konev was erected in 1980 during the "normalisation" period in communist Czechoslovakia. The democratically elected leadership of Prague's Municipal District 6, which retains legal ownership of the statue, voted to move the monument to a museum and replace it with a memorial commemorating Soviet sacrifices in the fight against Hitler in general, and the liberation of Prague in particular. More information available here. The Kremlin's reaction to this decision has been extremely hostile, and as of last week, the mayor of Prague 6 has been under police protection after a Russian agent allegedly arrived in the Czech Republic carrying ricin poison. See similar cases here that there was no evidence of Russia's involvement in the poisoning of Skripals and that Russia is accused of US election meddling and the Skripals’ poisoning without proof. For further cases on the Konev monument, see here.