The civic initiative Dárek pro Putina (“A Gift for Putin”) has raised 60 million Czech korunas (approximately €2.4 million) to purchase six new howitzers for the Ukrainian army.
This was announced to ČTK by the project's organizer, Martin Ondráček.
The funds will be used to acquire six new D-30 howitzers — a type of artillery still widely used by both sides in the war.
The initiative also aims to honor Czech heroes: each howitzer will be named after members of the Czechoslovak resistance during World War II. One, for example, has been named “Josef” in honor of Josef Mašín, a member of the "Three Kings" resistance group. Others will bear the names of Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík, who took part in the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, as well as Karel Kuttelwascher, a legendary Czech pilot in Britain’s Royal Air Force.
“This is our way of symbolically honoring the memory of heroes from Czech history,” Ondráček explained.
Despite the length of the war, Czech citizens continue to support Ukraine.
“Since the beginning of this year, we’ve already raised 120 million korunas — more than during the same period in either of the last two years,” the organizer added.
The fundraising campaign for the howitzers began in November 2024. Around the same time, the initiative launched a separate campaign to buy 500 drones with munitions and control systems for 12.5 million korunas (over €500,000).
Since the launch of Gift for Putin in May 2022, the initiative has raised over 1 billion korunas for weapons and other military equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
