On 7 July after his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Prague, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala confirmed that his country would send Ukraine more combat helicopters and ammunition in the coming months, and would participate in Ukrainian pilot training on Western aircraft, including providing Ukraine with F-16 flight simulators.
He wrote on Facebook:
“I confirmed to President Zelenskyy today that the Czech Republic will donate more attack helicopters to Ukraine and hundreds of thousands more pieces of large-caliber ammunition in the coming months (100,000 additional munitions, according to the Ukrainian President’s website, – Ed.).
“We will also help Ukraine with pilot training, including training for F-16 aircraft, and we will deliver flight simulators to Ukraine so that training can take place not only in the West but also in Ukraine.
“The Czech Republic is one of Ukraine’s largest suppliers of military assistance. The war has lasted almost 500 days. We have sent 676 pieces of heavy equipment and over 4 million pieces of medium and large-caliber ammunition to Ukraine. This means that every day, since the first day of the war, about 10,000 pieces of ammunition and at least one tank, rocket launcher, howitzer, etc. have been leaving the Czech Republic for Ukraine.
“The President has assured me that he is well aware of our assistance, which has been ongoing since the very beginning of the Russian invasion, and that he appreciates it and is ready to support Czech companies getting involved in reconstruction projects in Ukraine.”
PM Fiala added that Prague is also working with other partners in this area, in particular, with regard to the repair of heavy equipment at Czech military-industrial enterprises, Ukrinform reports. He cited the repair of T-72 tanks together with the Netherlands as an example.
President Zelenskyy thanked the Czech government and all the people for a new powerful and timely defense package for Ukraine:
“This is exactly what is needed. Each such manifestation of solidarity brings the end of this terrible war unleashed by the Russian Federation closer,” he said, according to the President’s official website.
Ukraine and Czech Republic to start joint production of small arms and ammunition
In July 2022, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov confirmed the first transfers of Czechia’s Soviet-era Mi-24 attack helicopters to Ukraine. The remainder of the Czech Mi-24/35 fleet was also earmarked for Ukraine as Prague was going to replace their older helicopters with US-made UH-1Y/AH-1Zs.
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