DISINFO: It is still unknown what caused the Vrbetice explosions in the Czech Republic
SUMMARY
We have no idea what exactly happened in Vrbetice in 2014 or who is responsible for the explosion. Average social media consumers will believe whatever they want - even if that is plain anti-Russian propaganda.
RESPONSE
The pro-Kremlin disinformation case above lacks proper evidence and is designed to cause inconsistency over recent revelations about Vrbetice explosions that happened in Czechia in 2014.
The investigation by Czech authorities has established beyond doubt that GRU agents Anatoly Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin, the same individuals considered responsible for the attempted murder of Sergey Skripal in Salisbury in 2018, were behind an explosion in an ammunition storage depot in the Czech location of Vrbetice in 2014, which killed two people. According to investigators, an email supposedly from the National Guard of Tajikistan had requested permission for two individuals - ”Ruslan Tabarov” from Tajikistan and “Nicolaj Popa” from Moldova - to visit the storage site and included the scanned image of two false passports with the pictures of both men. The images of “Tabarov” and “Popa” matched those of Chepiga and Mishkin. Prague's findings were independently corroborated by a joint investigation conducted by Bellingcat, The Insider (Russia), Der Spiegel (Germany), and Respekt.cz (Czechia).
Crying "anti-Russian propaganda" is a recurring feature in pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns. Using this narrative, pro-Kremlin media outlets aim to divert attention from the discussed issue and focus on emotional reactions.
Pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets have been particularly active in providing alternative explanations for what happened in Vrbetice in 2014. View more similar cases here.