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After several days of tense silence regarding the fate of Volhynian Czechs living close to a military facility being bombed by the Russians, the Czech authorities announced on Tuesday that a rescue operation had successfully brought 88 Volhynian Czechs, including 46 children, out of the country.

As the war in Ukraine reaches its sixth day, many Czech NGOs are helping directly in the country or on its borders with the EU. One of them is People in Need (Človek v tísni). To find out what the situation is like on the borders and for Ukrainian refugees, I spoke to People in Need’s media coordinator for Ukraine, Milan Votýpka.

In order to simplify and speed up the admission of Ukrainian refugees to the Czech Republic the authorities have set up a National Assistance Centre and registration hotspots around the country. Ukrainians seeking refuge in the Czech Republic will receive a 12-month entry visa, health insurance and a labour permit.

Within just a single weekend, an initiative of IT experts known as Česko.Digital, has set up an online directory of ways in which people in Czechia can help war-stricken Ukraine. Called stojimezaukrajinou.cz (Stand with Ukraine), the website also works as a directory for Ukrainian refugees seeking help with issues ranging from transport and housing to legal assistance.

Words of support for Ukraine and tributes to its brave people have been flooding the media, social networks and the Czech digital space.

The Russian military aggression in Ukraine and the country’s brave efforts to resist the invasion have sparked an unprecedented wave of solidarity in the Czech Republic. It is not just the close proximity of the country, located just 300 km away, but also echoes of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia that have jolted politicians and the public into action.

Hundreds of people gathered on Prague’s Wenceslas Square on Thursday to protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There were also gatherings at several other places in the Czech capital, including in front of the Russian Embassy. Among the protestors were many Ukrainians living in the Czech Republic, their faces expressing shock at what just happened.

The Czech Republic tried to persuade its EU partners to block Russia from the SWIFT international payments system, the country’s foreign minister said on Friday. The Prague government is reportedly underwhelmed by the European Union’s hitherto response to the invasion of Ukraine and is undertaking steps of its own.

Martina Kroa talks to Georgij, a Russian student at the Prague University of Economics, about how the invasion of Ukraine impacted his life, his relationship with family members back home – and even the likelihood of him returning to Russia one day.

Czech top officials have joined widespread international condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  The Czech government’s call for much tougher sanctions against Russia, was echoed by President Miloš Zeman who described Putin’s military operation as “a crime against peace” saying the Russian leader must be stopped.