Feb 02, 2023

Czech National Bank to Donate Cars for the Evacuation of Wounded Ukrainian Soldiers

Prague Morning

The “Gift for Putin” project, founded by Czech businessman Dalibor Dědek, announced the transfer to Ukraine of two armored vehicles that will be used to evacuate Ukrainian soldiers wounded in battles with Russian aggressors.

It is noted that as a result of the “Gift for Putin” project, almost CZK 383 million (15.8 million euros) have already been collected from the citizens of the Czech Republic via e-shop zbraneproukrajinu.cz and a number of necessary types of weapons have been purchased.

Among the “Gifts for Putin” were, for example, 15 Czech-made Viktor mobile air defense systems, as well as a modernized T-72 tank.

The T-72 Avenger is a modernized version of the Soviet-era tank that first entered production in 1969. It has been fitted with a new device to create a smoke screen in combat and has an upgraded front cannon.

Armored cars that the bank previously owned were still used to transport money.

The charitable organization Team 4 Ukraine converted the equipment into large sanitary vehicles capable of transporting wounded soldiers on the front line.

The Ukraine embassy said that by late September, Czechs had donated £46m to its weapons-purchase fundraising efforts coordinated with the Czech defence ministry.

The newly elected Czech president Petr Pavel called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday to assure him of his country’s continued support for Ukraine.

Mr. Pavel said President Zelensky had thanked Czechia for its support and invited him to visit Kyiv. The next Czech head of state said he hoped to visit Ukraine together with Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová in the spring.