Uploaded in both Czech and English, the stories were planted by a hacker on the České noviny website (Czech news).

The first story claimed that BIS had foiled a plot to kill Slovakia’s president-elect, Peter Pellegrini .

According to the article, the assassination had been planned by Ukrainian nationals, among them Vitaliy Usatyy, a diplomat based in Prague.

The second article published a statement made by Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský in response to the fabricated conspiracy.

The Czech News Agency issued a terse statement denying any involvement in the two stories. “ČTK didn’t publish any such information on its news service,” said the agency.

Initial suspicions had been raised by eagle-eyed readers who had noticed that Pellegrini’s name had been written incorrectly.

While many privately suspect the Kremlin to be behind the false allegations, BIS has so far refused to comment further on the matter.