Man held for attack on Russian centre in Prague

Czech police said Tuesday that they have arrested a foreign national who claimed responsibility for using Molotov cocktails to attack a Russian cultural centre in Prague last week.

They said the male suspect turned himself in on Monday and that he acknowledged planning the attack since last summer on the Russian House, which is funded by the Russian state but doesn’t have diplomatic status. Police did not name the man’s nationality or give any other details. The incident in the Czech capital took place late Thursday. A photo showed a broken window while two windows and a wall of the building were partly covered with smoke. The building did not catch fire, however.

The centre said it organises cultural, educational and scientific programmes and offers Russian language courses.

Its director, Igor Girenko, told the Russian state news agency Tass that six Molotov cocktails were thrown at the building on Thursday and that three of them did not explode.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called it “a barbaric act,” while the Russian embassy in Prague asked the Czech authorities to boost the security of Russian institutions and its employees in the country.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has condemned the attack.