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A newly published opinion poll on Czech society’s response to Russia’s war on Ukraine suggests that support for NATO is at its highest level for almost three decades – while only 9 percent of respondents now feel there is no threat of armed conflict in this region. I discussed the study’s findings with one of its authors, Matěj Jungwirth of the STEM agency.

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Radka Rubilina was based in Kyiv, working as director of the local Czech Centre. A few days before the invasion, she had to leave the country, but she continues to run the Czech Centre’s activities from its temporary headquarters in Prague.

Czechs have provided around CZK 3.4 billion in donations since the beginning of Russia’s war on Ukraine. The largest amount overall (1.67 billion) has been collected by the humanitarian NGO People in Need. The organisation’s media coordinator for Ukraine, Milan Votypka, says that the amount of aid coming in is unprecedented.

Czech children’s writer Petr Březina has launched a unique undertaking to help Ukrainian child refugees feel at home in the Czech Republic. He has put together a bilingual book of children’s fairy tales, illustrated by Czech children, which should help the newcomers to make friends and learn Czech in an easy way. The book called “Fairytales for Ukrainian children” should be ready in time for the start of the new school year.

In just six weeks, more than eleven million Ukrainians have fled their homes because of the Russian invasion. Over four million have left Ukraine, another seven million people are thought to be displaced inside the country. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees it is the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II. Martina Kroa spoke to migration expert and social geographer Tereza Freidingerová, about various aspects of the crisis and begun by asking her how this refugee exodus compares to previous migration crises.

Researchers from the Czech Republic and Ukraine have been carrying out a joint project in western Ukraine, focusing on the country’s traditional wooden churches.  Although the research has been stalled by Russia’s war on Ukraine, the data they managed to collect last year show that some of the oak buildings are over 500 years old:

Taking in over 300,000 war refugees in the space of several weeks is an unprecedented challenge for the Czech Republic logistics-wise and in terms of psychological support. A team of experts from the Israel Trauma Coalition, which trains government organizations, NGOs, healthcare workers, teachers and counsellors how to get communities back on their feet following a disaster, visited the Czech Republic this week to share their know-how. I spoke to Gili Nir from ITC about their mission.

The Great Synagogue in Pilsen, has opened its door to the public after a three-year renovation. The monumental building, which is the second biggest synagogue in Europe and one of the five biggest in the world, opened last Sunday, just a few days before the start of Passover, with a Torah scroll being carried inside under a velvet canopy.

Defence Minister Jana Černochová made headlines at the weekend by saying she would discuss potential US military bases on Czech territory on a visit to Washington. However, within days – and following a heated debate – the prime minister had poured cold water on the idea. So what happened? I spoke to political scientist Jiří Pehe.

Hurvínek, one of the Czech Republic’s most popular puppet characters, is heading into space. He will be carried to the outer edge of the stratosphere on board of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Hurvínek is the second children’s character to fly into space after the Little Mole’s Space Shuttle Mission in 2011.