Czech Republic Lodges Protest With Russian Ambassador Over Threats to Czech Drone Manufacturers

PRAGUE, April 20. /TASS/. The Czech Republic's Foreign Ministry has lodged a protest with Moscow's ambassador over the threats to Czech companies arising from the Russian Defense Ministry's publication of a list of European enterprises producing drones for Ukraine. "[Czech] Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Petr Macinka decided to summon the Russian ambassador following a report by the Russian Defense Ministry and a subsequent comment by the [Russian] Security Council Deputy Secretary, which concerned several Czech companies, designated as potential targets for Russian strikes," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "A strong protest against such threats was lodged with Ambassador Alexander Zemeyevsky at 10:00 a.m. today. Such rhetoric towards the Czech Republic, Czech entities and our allies is absolutely unacceptable," the ministry added. The Czech Foreign Ministry claimed that Russia's actions in Ukraine "significantly worsened the security situation in Europe" and that Prague was providing support to Ukraine based on international law. The Russian Embassy did not comment on the ambassador's visit to the Czech Foreign Ministry. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry published a list of the names and addresses of Ukrainian enterprises in Europe, which produce drones for attacks on Russia. Russian Security Council Secretary Dmitry Medvedev said in an X post that it was "a list of potential targets for the Russian Armed Forces."