WAR PROPAGANDA: Czechs are providing Ukraine with weapons to bomb civilians

Czech volunteers have been collecting funds to purchase a missile system for Ukraine, which will use it to bomb the civilian population in Donbas, according to a false narrative disseminated by the Russian media. In fact, weapons purchased as part of the “Gift for Putin” crowdfunding campaign are designed to consolidate Ukraine’s defenses against the Russian aggression.

Propaganda: Czech volunteers are providing Ukraine with a missile launcher to kill civilians in Donbas

NEWS: “Czech volunteers have raised €1.2 million for the purchase of a RM-70 Vampire MLR system for the Ukrainian army. With this system, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are bombing residential areas of Donetsk”, according to DNR NEWS, which describes the assistance Czechs provided to Kyiv as an action against the Russian-speaking population of Donbas.

“Donetsk was shelled with the Czech RM-70 Vampire system. Fragments of the corresponding ammunition were found at the shelling site. At least five households were damaged in the Kievsky district of Donetsk following this morning’s shelling. […] This is a multiple rocket launcher manufactured in the former Czechoslovakia”, the Russian newspaper  Komsomolskaia Pravda writes, underlining that such military equipment was provided to Ukraine to destroy the population.

NARRATIVE: Czechs have provided Ukraine with a missile launcher so it can bomb civilians in Donbas

Fact: As part of the “Gift for Putin” campaign, Czech citizens have raised money to help Ukraine fend off the Russian aggression

WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: In response to numerous requests from Ukrainian authorities, in May 2022 the Czech businessman Dalibor Dědek launched “Gift for Putin” project aimed at supporting Ukraine. The funds collected through the crowdfunding campaign will be transferred to the bank accounts of the Ukrainian Embassy in Prague. Under the coordination of the Czech Ministry of Defense, they are subsequently used to purchase military equipment from local manufacturers and suppliers, as per the requests of the Ukrainian army. Previously, Czech citizens bought Tomas the Tank or the Viktor anti-air defense system for the Ukrainian army

These are small-scale military acquisitions, but they represent a symbolic gesture meant to support Ukraine’s efforts to defend against the military aggression of the Russian Federation. The crowdfunding campaign is conducted with a view to proving the solidarity of Czech society with the suffering of the Ukrainian people. In the first four hours since the campaign was launched, €85,000 was raised for the purchase of the missile launcher.

In order to discredit this initiative and to block similar ones in various states around the world, the media in Moscow but also in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk have distributed a false narrative, according to which Czech volunteers are offering a rocket launcher to Ukraine to help kill civilians in Donbas.

The day organizers of the “Gift for Putin” campaign announced the acquisition of the MLR system, news agencies in Donetsk wrote about residential areas in Donbas being bombed with the use of a similar system which Ukraine received from the Czech Republic last year. At the same time, most press articles described Czech donors as accomplices to the crimes committed against Russian speakers.

In fact, according to Czech media, the project is a symbolic gesture designed to condemn the Russian aggression and support the legitimate defensive efforts of the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom. Each time, the Czech media refers to Russia’s superiority compared to Ukraine in terms of equipment and ammunition.

The narrative is meant to manipulate public opinion, by showing that the war in Ukraine is launched and fueled by the West, and is primarily targeted against Russian speakers in Donbas.

Veridica has disproved several similar narratives. According to Russian propaganda, the “special military operation” saved Russia from NATO’s invasion and Ukrainian Nazism. The United States have been arming Ukraine since 2014 to push into a war against Russia. The Russian government media also wrote that Moscow shows restraint when bombing Ukraine, but it is forced to do it to defend itself. Starting November 2021, the Russian media wrote that Moscow is rallying troops on the Ukrainian border in order to defend itself against a possible NATO aggression, and is forced to save Donbas from the genocide organized by Ukraine and the West.