The Czech initiative “A Gift for Putin” has raised CZK 60 million (over EUR 2.4 million) in public donations to purchase six howitzers for the Ukrainian army.
The funds will be used to purchase six new D-30 howitzers. As a symbolic tribute to heroes of Czechoslovak history, each howitzer will be named after a World War II figure.
According to the organizers, all six howitzers are immediately available and will be delivered to the front lines following administrative clearance and in coordination with Ukrainian diplomatic representatives.
Ondracek said one of the howitzers has been named “Josef,” in honor of Josef Mašín, a member of the resistance group Three Kings.
Others are named after Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík, who carried out the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, and Karel Kuttelwascher, a famed Czech pilot who served in the Royal Air Force during WWII.
The D-30 (2A18), originally developed in the Soviet Union during the 1960s, has a firing range of up to 15.4 km, extendable to 21.9 km with rocket-assisted projectiles, and a rate of fire of up to 12 rounds per minute.
Ukrainian forces fire a 122mm D-30 howitzer in Donetsk region. (Source: Getty Images)
The fundraising campaign for the howitzers began in November 2024. At the same time, the initiative launched another campaign to raise CZK 12.5 million for 500 drones equipped with munitions and control systems.
Since the beginning of 2025, “A Gift for Putin” has already collected CZK 120 million, surpassing the total for the same period in both 2024 and 2023.
Since its launch in May 2022, the initiative has raised over CZK 1 billion for weapons and other military equipment for Ukraine.
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