Czech Republic to Ship Weapons and Ammunition Worth $8.6 Million to Ukraine

Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces of Czech Republic approved on Saturday sending weapons and ammunition worth 188 million crowns ($8.57 million) to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s attack. The shipment, which includes machine guns, assault rifles and other light weapons, will be delivered by the Czech side to a location picked by Ukraine. “Our help is not over!”, the Czech Defence Ministry said on Twitter. The Czech government ordered the closure of two Russian consulates in the Czech Republic and stopped accepting visa requests from Russian citizens.

For some of the countries that fled the Soviet bloc following a series of anti-communist revolutions more than 30 years ago, footage of tanks and troops rolling in to punish a nation trying to pursue its own independent course looks painfully familiar. The Czech Republic, as part of Czechoslovakia in 1968 experienced comparable brutality. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala voiced full support for the strongest possible sanctions for what he called “an absolutely unjustified act of aggression against a sovereign state.” Czech President Milos Zeman also called Thursday’s invasion “an unprovoked act of aggression.”