Zaluzhny’s Visit To Czechia Сaused Panic Among Russians

The details of a secret meeting that only a few people knew about became known.

Before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, visited Prague several times and discussed the issue of supplying Czech weapons to Ukraine. This was told in an interview with Radio Liberty by Tomáš Kopečný, the Czech Governmental Envoy for the Reconstruction of Ukraine.

So, Kopečný worked in the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic and was one of those who responded to the call for assistance from Ukraine and prepared the supply of weapons and tried to deliver the necessary weapons to the Ukrainian forces as soon as possible. According to him, before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, they had already gotten acquainted with Valery Zaluzhny, and the period of preparation for the transfer of weapons began in mid-December 2021.

"It was after I read an article, it was Ria Novosti, or some other propaganda article from Russia, which read about what had not yet happened, but about their fears. The article read: Czechs definitely plan to provide Ukraine with all these howitzers and MLRS and tanks. And I thought: Yes, this is exactly what I wanted to do since 2015, when I began to travel to Ukraine and work with the Ukrainian military and the MoD. And this is what Russia is obviously afraid of, because it was a hysterical article. And we said, ‘Okay, let's do it’," says Kopečný.

According to him, after that, a secret meeting of the working group was held in the Czech Republic, which only a few people knew about, including the Prime Minister, and after that, the Czech side began to communicate with the General Staff of Ukraine, with the Ministry of Defense, and, in particular, with Valery Zaluzhny, who came to Prague before the full-scale invasion.

“He came to Prague in January and February. And what we discussed was actually a list of equipment that could be supplied for free, because it was in the military reserves of the Czech army. It was this interaction that, a few months after the invasion, led to the creation of an international body for coordinating arms supplies, known as the Ramstein format,” says the Czech Governmental Envoy for the Reconstruction of Ukraine.

He noted that the Czech Republic began collecting military assistance for Ukraine in January 2022.

“We just showed ourselves, Ukraine, and the whole world that this can be done. But in the early days, most countries said that it was impossible to deliver any weapons because the Russians would bomb the columns with missiles. The best example was to show them, you know, that it comes out of our factory and on the fourth day it is already used against the occupiers, against the aggressors," said Tomáš Kopečný.