First Train With Ukrainian Refugees to Arrive in the Czech Republic

Of the two trains that Czech Railways dispatched to Přemyšl near the Polish-Ukrainian border on Friday, one will return to the Czech Republic on Saturday.

The Ministry of Interior’s Refugee Facilities Administration (SUZ) will support them with free accommodation. More than 120,000 people have already fled Ukraine due to the Russian invasion.

Many Ukrainian families living in the Czech Republic are driving to the border to pick up their families there.

The second train dispatched to help Ukrainian refugees stays in Přemyšl for the time being and will be used operationally according to the further development of the humanitarian situation on the ground, said Czech Railways (ČD) spokesman Petr Šťáhlavský.

According to ČD’s Deputy Director for Passenger Transport, Jiří Ješeta, most of the refugees want to move mainly to Krakow, Katowice and Warsaw. Therefore ČD has agreed with Polish colleagues that they can use the Czech train for the refugees’ journey to the above-mentioned Polish stations.

The first train should arrive in Bohumín after 15:00, and from there will continue to other Czech cities, such as Břeclav, Olomouc and Prague.

In addition to special trains, the state carrier has since Friday also allowed free transport on its trains to Ukrainian citizens who want to return to their homeland.

The Czech government has announced that the country is willing to help thousands of Ukrainian refugees as well as to treat injured civilians and soldiers.

Prague is expecting to take in up to 5,000 refugees in the first wave and accommodation is being readied in hotels and private facilities.

The mayor of Prague said on Friday that in the event of overwhelming interest the city would open Strahov Stadium for this purpose.