Ukraine crisis in Czechia: What's happening now (April 14)

From today, the Regional Assistance Center for Ukrainian refugees in Prague is operating at a new location in Vysočany. The new location, lent to the capital by the Central Group for free for the next six months, replaces the previous Prague Congress Center location. Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib said that operations at the new location continue to rely on the work of volunteers who can translate from Czech to Ukrainian, and asked anyone interested to sign up for volunteering at icpraha.com or pomahamepraze.sinch.cz.

The Assistance Center for Refugees in Prague will move from its current location at the Prague Congress Center to the Central Group building in Vysočany tomorrow morning. The relocation is taking place due to planned events to be held in the Congress Center over the coming weeks. Opening hours at the new location will be adjusted during the Easter weekend, and the center will thereafter run from 07:00 until 21:00. Operations at Prague Congress Center will end at 17:00 p.m. today.

A city representative for Semily, a town in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic, has attracted major controversy by posting photos online of traditional Czech chlebíčky (open sandwiches) decorated with cheeses in a Z-shape, recalling the symbol used to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Bronislav Kalvoda, a representative for the Freedom and Direct Democracy party, later deleted the post from his Facebook profile, but local police are already looking into the matter. Kalvoda has been removed from his position on a local commission and local councilors are calling for his resignation. Police are meanwhile dealing with another case of the "Z" symbol in nearby Turnov, where it was spray-painted onto a flag of Ukraine and a portrait of Václav Havel in a local underpass.

An allowance of CZK 3,000 per person per month available to those sheltering Ukrainian refugees in their homes or vacant flats is available from today. As of the early afternoon, around 500 people had already applied for the benefit, according to the government. The CZK 3,000 allowance is given for each refugee sheltered regardless of their age, although a cap of 12,000 is in place even if accommodation is being provided for more than four refugees. The benefit covers costs for those hosting refugees for more than 16 consecutive days. Applications can be made online on the Labor Office's official website.

The Czech Republic has now granted 276,657 special visas to Ukrainians fleeing from the war, including 2,340 on Saturday, according to the latest data provided by the Interior Ministry. More than 161,000 refugees have registered with foreign police, about 1,500 on Saturday. Children under 15, who make up around 35 percent of the refugees in the Czech Republic, are not required to register with foreign police; others must do so within 30 days of entering the country.

The special visas issued to Ukrainians allow them to stay in the Czech Republic for up to one year with access to public health insurance and education. They can also be employed without the need for a work visa, and are eligible for additional assistance including accommodation. The real number of Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic is estimated at more than 300,000. The number of visas issued over the past week has been slightly declining.

Czech Radio has expanded its content offer intended for Ukrainian refugees living in the Czech Republic both through its website and a mobile app. It now offers a practical Ukrainian-Czech audio dictionary with lessons for children and adults, as well as fairy tales in Ukrainian from Czech writers. The new content can be accessed online through this link.

"We keep expanding our service for Ukrainians in Czechia," Czech Radio CEO René Zavoral said in a press release, adding that the dictionary helps refugees with communication in a new environment. Fairytales in Ukrainian are very popular with young listeners, Zavoral said, noting that the website also features a folk tale about a goat recorded by Olga Perebyinis, wife of the Ukrainian Ambassador to Prague.

British rock band Pink Floyd released their first new music for 28 years to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia, and Prague's Letná park appears in the song's music video. The song, called "Hey Hey Rise Up", was released today with all proceeds going to Ukrainian Humanitarian Relief. The song is the first released by the band since their 1994 album Division Bell, and features long-time band members David Gilmour and Nick Mason playing their instruments to accompany vocals from Ukrainian singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk. Footage from a benefit concert for Ukraine in Prague's Letná appears briefly at the end of the video in the top-right corner.

The Czech Senate has rejected an amendment to the military service law which would allow Czech volunteers to join the Ukrainian armed forces fighting Russia's invasion of the country. Senators rejected the amendment by 63 votes to 35. Prime Minister Petr Fiala and President Miloš Zeman have already promised no punishment for people who want to fight alongside the Ukrainian army. Critics of the proposed amendment enshrining this permission in law argued that it lacked definitions of the precise conditions for joining the Ukrainian army, as well as necessary parliamentary checks.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance will urgently help Ukraine re-arm and replenish its supplies in Kyiv over the coming weeks, as it's feared that Russian forces in the east of the country will re-group and launch another major offensive on the capital. NATO allies are therefore speeding up arms deliveries to Ukraine, including reports of tanks and armored vehicles being sent to the country by the Czech military. Stoltenberg warned that Russia is now moving its forces from Kyiv to the east and south of Ukraine to try to take full control of the Donbas region and establish a land connection with annexed Crimea.

Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan said the government is preparing a strategy for the integration of up to half a million Ukrainian refugees. At present, it's thought more than 300,000 Ukrainian refugees have entered the country. Rakušan said yesterday that the country is transitioning from short-term crisis activities to long-term planning. The integration strategy should be presented to MPs next week. Rakušan earlier predicted that up to a third of the refugees who arrive in Czechia will want to stay in the long-term.

Czech President Miloš Zeman, Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and other politicians have condemned the murder of Ukrainian civilians by Russian troops. The Foreign Ministry called it a war crime on the part of the Putin regime and demanded punishment of those responsible. President Zeman also condemned the murder of civilians in Ukraine as a war crime and called for punishment by an international tribunal. Anatoly Fedoruk, the mayor of Bucha, told the Reuters news agency that over 300 people had been killed in the town.

Prague will host a large-scale benefit concert for Ukraine today from 3:00 p.m. on the spacious Letná Plain, a outdoor open space that has seen a number of significant cultural events over the years including 1989 Velvet Revolution protests.

Titled Together for Ukraine, the concert will feature performances by prominent musical artists and speeches from actors, athletes, and those who have escaped the war in Ukraine. Among the performers at the concert will be Arinka, an 8-year-old musician from Kharkiv who recently arrived in Prague.

For those unable to attend the concert in person, it will also be broadcast live on social media and YouTube through the video below:

Prague's Direct Action Theatre staged a short performance protesting Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine outside the Russian Embassy in Prague on Friday. With its performance, the theater troupe wanted to show support to both those in Russia who are protesting against Putin's regime, as well as those in Ukraine fighting to defend their homeland.

Members of the theater troupe dressed as Russian police arrested a performer filling in for Putin with a paper mask during the performance. About 20 Prague police officers monitored the event.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has called on Russian diplomats not to serve Vladimir Putin's regime in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Foreign Ministry also warned that after the war, Russia will face the consequences of its violent acts. The ministry released its appeal to Russian diplomats in English and Russian today, arguing that although diplomats represent their state, "there must be limits" to what people are willing support and that Russian envoys "have been cheated" by their leaders.

The Czech cabinet has asked the ministries of finance, foreign affairs and industry to work on a sanctions package against Russian entities in the Czech Republic in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said the country lacks an effective instrument for bringing in effective sanctions against foreign entities, so the three ministries must prepare such an instrument in accordance with Czech law. The ministries will therefore speed up work on the so-called Magnitsky law, enabling sanctions for gross violations of human rights, which the current cabinet had earlier pledged to submit by the end of 2023.

Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib has conveyed concern from the Central Crisis Staff of the Czech Republic about the concentration of Ukrainian refugees in some specific regions. There are up to four times more Ukrainian refugees per capita in Prague than other regions, putting a disproportionate strain on the capital's assistance services. Hřib therefore called for better coordination of services for refugees at the national level to better handle the long-term effect of the crisis. Meanwhile, Prague Deputy Mayor Petr Hlubuček said the refugee influx is on a downward trend, with less than half of the number of arrivals seen at the start of March. As such, the Prague Assistance Center for Ukrainian refugees could shorten its opening hours.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the Czech Republic's support for his country's resistance to Russian aggression in a Twitter post today. Zelensky said that in a phone call with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, he expressed his gratitude for the humanitarian and security assistance provided by the Czech Republic, as well as the "exceptional treatment" of Ukrainian refugees who have been welcomed in Czechia. Fiala and Zelensky met in person in Kyiv during an international visit of leaders from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia in mid-March.

The Czech Republic has frozen assets worth millions of dollars belonging to Russian tycoons as a result of sanctions, according to Prime Minister Petr Fiala. Speaking on television, Fiala didn't name the individuals whose assets have been frozen. He said the government will take care of Czech citizens working for firms owned by the sanctioned Russians, but rejected the idea of nationalizing assets. Other countries to have frozen Russian-owned assets include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Japan, and other EU countries such as France, the Netherlands, and Italy.