United for Ukraine! President Petr Pavel, public figures, and mothers of Czech citizens who fell in Ukraine will speak at Old Town Square

The gathering, organised by People in Need, Paměť národa (Memory of the Nation), Díky, že můžem (Thank You for Letting Us), the European Congress of Ukrainians and Milion chvilek pro demokracii (A Million Moments for Democracy), marks the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In addition, 19-year-old Valeriia Sydorova will address the rally. She will raise the pressing issue of Ukrainian children living in Russian-occupied territories, where they are subjected to harsh re-education and stripped of their identity. Valeriia herself was abducted from occupied Nova Kakhovka to Crimea in October 2022, where she was placed in a so-called "recreation camp". In reality, she was placed in a tool of ideological coercion and control. 

Her story will be presented by coordinators helping the families of Ukrainian soldiers missing in action or held captive in Russia, as well as Ukrainian veteran Serhiy Zhukovsky from the occupied city of Tokmak. After the full-scale invasion began, he took his family to the Lviv region in western Ukraine and left to defend his homeland. He was seriously wounded and lost both his arms. Nevertheless, he did not quit on himself and managed to build a successful business.

"I will be at Old Town Square because I don't want the boys who fell in Ukraine to be forgotten. And also because we must not submit to evil," says Ivana Krejčová, mother of Taylor, a Czech citizen who fell in Ukraine. Taylor volunteered to transport wounded soldiers from the front to the rear in Donbas.

Petr Pavel, Dominik Hašek, Sarah Haváčová, Jiří Dvořák, and Ivan Trojan will speak!

President Petr Pavel, Dominik Hašek, and representatives of the organising organisations, Šimon Pánek, Mikuláš Kroupa, Mikuláš Minář, Bohdan Rajčinec, and Bára Stárek, will speak at the gathering. It will end with a minute's silence and a performance by a children's choir, which will sing the Czech and Ukrainian national anthems.

"They are fighting for us, and this needs to be emphasised often and strongly. Come and support Ukraine," says actor Jiří Dvořák, who, along with other artists, is inviting people to the gathering. "Let's think about the future," adds Ivan Trojan. "Let's remember that the situation in the world is changing dramatically and we can prove that we want to live in a world that defends the law and all the values that democracy encompasses."

United for Ukraine will be accessible to everyone—simultaneous interpretation will be provided, as well as transcription into Ukrainian and Czech for people with hearing impairments, and there will be a designated area on the square for people in wheelchairs.

Despite the will of the majority of citizens, the Czech government wants to cancel humanitarian aid to Ukraine

The rally will take place between the first and second readings of the Czech Government’s draft budget, in which the government proposes to completely cancel the continuation of the Humanitarian, Stabilisation, Reconstruction and Economic Aid Programme for Ukraine for CZK 500 million, including the MEDEVAC medical programme. This would mean the effective end of funding for civilian aid. Responsibility would be transferred entirely to private donors and the Czech public, further diminishing Czechia's position among its allies. Weakening support for Ukraine will weaken the Czech Republic's role in its post-war reconstruction.

The government has thus decided against the will of its citizens, the majority of whom support increasing humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Thus, United for Ukraine takes on greater significance, with the ambition to remind people that the Czech people stand together with Ukraine. 

You can find the Facebook event here and the video invitation here. You can also watch a video from last year's gathering.

*Of the previous government's proposals, only the guarantee instrument for business activities in Ukraine, guaranteed by the National Development Bank and co-financed by European funds, has been retained in the budget.