The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhny, visited the Czech Republic repeatedly before the outbreak of a full-scale war with Russia, said Czech government official Tomasz Kopechny, who previously worked on cooperation with Ukraine at the Czech Ministry of Defense.
Kopechny said that cooperation between the Czech Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of Ukraine began to develop more actively in December 2021. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhny visited Prague in January and February 2022. These visits preceded the Russian invasion, and their purpose was to discuss issues of military cooperation.
In his address to Radio Liberty, Kopechny also reported that the Czech Republic provided Ukraine with its first multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) on the fourth day of Russia's invasion - February 27, 2022. It was noted that the cost of this system was paid for by the Czech government.
“What we discussed was a list of equipment that could be supplied free of charge because it was in the military reserves of the Czech army,” Kopečný explained. According to him, this initiative was part of the formation of an international structure for coordinating arms supplies to Ukraine, known as the “Ramstein format.”
