The government of the Czech Republic announced today that it will send military helicopters to Ukraine and will train Kiev pilots on the operation of US-made Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets. The aim is to support the counteroffensive against the Russian invader.

"The Czech Republic will donate more helicopter gunships and hundreds of thousands of large-caliber munitions. It will also help train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 aircraft and provide flight simulators to enable training in Ukraine as well. To date, Prague has sent to Kiev 10,000 ammunition and at least one tank, armored vehicle or similar equipment for each day of war". "We will continue to provide this aid and the entire democratic world must also do so", explained Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

Prague's decision comes at the request of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. As a member of the Atlantic Alliance, the Czech Republic has supplied Ukraine with 676 units of heavy weapons and more than 4 million medium and large caliber ammunition since the beginning of the Russian military invasion (February 24, 2022).