The facade of the Czech Republic’s Interior Ministry headquarters in Prague dawned Friday with a large image of Russian President Vladimir Putin inside a body bag next to the Czech and Ukrainian flags.
«We know who are our friends who are bleeding for our freedom. And we also know who our enemies are and we will not let them steal our patriotism or our Czech Republic,» Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakushan wrote on Twitter, accompanying the text with this picture.
On the occasion of the National Day of the Czech Republic, which is celebrated this Friday, October 28, to commemorate the independence of Czechoslovakia in 1918, Rakushan has appealed to the patriotism that «unites society» and not that which hates other nations.
Rakushan assured that «independence and freedom» achieved decades ago «has come to an end» and now «standing face to face with the aggressor» he called on his compatriots «with pride» those values supposedly at risk.
The Czech Republic has emerged as one of Ukraine’s main partners, along with Poland and the Baltic States, since Russia announced the start of its so-called «special operation» eight months ago.
According to Defense Ministry estimates, Prague has so far this year delivered to Ukraine military equipment worth 1.9 billion euros, as well as another consignment valued at almost 168 million euros for other types of support. Since the beginning of the war, some 450,000 Ukrainian citizens have found refuge within the borders of the Czech Republic.
