5/11/20
PRAGUE -- Czech media have identified the man they say is the undercover Russian diplomat who entered the country nearly two months ago with a suitcase containing ricin as part of an alleged plot to poison as many as three Prague officials who had taken actions that angered the Kremlin. In a report aired on May 10, the Czech public TV program 168 Hours quoted unnamed security sources as saying Andrei Konchakov flew to Prague's Vaclav Havel Airport two months ago with the toxin and was driven to the Russian Embassy compound in the Czech capital, long considered a nerve center of Russian espionage activities. Konchakov, 34, rejected the allegations in comments to the Czech news site Seznam Zpravy, saying the suitcase contained "disinfectant, and candies." "It must be some mistake," Konchakov told the news site, declining to answer further questions, saying he would need clearance from Moscow first.
According to local media, Konchakov is suspected by Czech intelligence of working as a Russian spy. Several attempts to contact the Czech counterintelligence agency BIS to confirm those allegations were unsuccessful. Konchakov was picked up by a Russian Embassy driver -- identified in the report as Alexandr A. -- who is suspected by Czech intelligence of being an agent of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and is allegedly tasked with picking up Russian diplomats and taking care not only of their physical security but also any secret documents or other items they may be carrying. Konchakov is believed to have been born in Moscow in 1986, but other public details on him are few, unclear, and even apparently contradictory. Konchakov has lived in the Czech Republic for several years, but only gained diplomatic status last year.
