Fake news spreads claiming Ukrainians living in the Czech Republic are refusing to aid with the flood. The truth is Ukrainian organizations and volunteers are assisting and Ukraine itself has offered to help the Czech Republic
Disinformation has started spreading on Czech social media alleging that former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced a collection in aid of Czechs during the ongoing floods to which Ukrainians living in the Czech Republic sent very little money and that they are refusing to assist during the natural disaster. Both allegations are lies.
Czech social media user Aleš Svoboda wrote the following untruthful post: “Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba called on Ukrainians living in the ČR to aid Czechs during the flood. He even announced a collection,” to which such Ukrainians allegedly donated just CZK 1,700 [EUR 68] in two days. “There’s about a million of them here, so that’s quite a lot. The Embassy of Ukraine in the Czech Republic also called on local Ukrainians to assist with making sandbags and posted the address where they could go to help – nobody showed up,” Svoboda wrote.
Those allegations have been refuted both by news server Manipulátoři.cz and by Bohdan Rajčinec, the civil society Ukrainian national minority representative on the Czech Government Council for National Minorities who is the chair of the Ukrainian Initiative in the Czech Republic (Ukrajinská iniciativa v ČR). “The Ambassador to the Czech Republic from Ukraine, Vasyl Zvarych, has confirmed that no such bank account has been opened and that the embassy is in direct contact with the Government of the Czech Republic and is anticipating receiving an official request for aid from the Czech side. The Government of Ukraine is prepared to provide the relevant assistance,” Rajčinec told news server Romea.cz.
Rajčinec also confirmed that Ukrainians are actively involved in aiding people affected by the floods.
“During the first few hours of the flooding our Ukrainian colleagues from the Milovice area reached out to tell us they were going to help remove fallen trees from a road and to aid the needy. In Jablonné nad Orlicí, Ukrainians joined their neighbors’ assistance efforts as well as the public ones,” Rajčinec told news server Romea.cz.
In the Jesenik area, the Karviná area and the surrounding region, groups of Ukrainians are also informing people about opportunities for aid delivery, participating in them, and offering specific assistance with groceries, according to Rajčinec, while Ukrainian youth activists from Voice of Ukraine (Hlas Ukrajiny) have confirmed they can organize volunteers should Czech institutions be interested, and other Ukrainian organizations are providing help and collaborating with the Czech Strategic Communications bodies.
“In addition, Ukraine and the Embassy of Ukraine in the Czech Republic have confirmed they are prepared to aid the ČR with both personnel and technology,” Rajčinec told news server Romea.cz.
Ukraine offered both material aid and personnel from its own rescue units to the Czech Republic when it comes to cleaning up the consequences of the destructive floods. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) that he would convey the offer to the extraordinary cabinet session on Monday, 16 September.
“Mr. Minister [of Foreign Affairs Andrij] Sybiha informed me that President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy agrees with aiding the Czech Republic,” Lipavský said. Sybiha became the head of Ukraine’s diplomatic corps at the start of September, replacing Kuleba.
Sybiha subsequently expressed solidarity with the Czech Republic and other countries in relation to the floods and their victims.
“On behalf of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and in coordination with [Prime Minister] Denys Shmyhal we have offered to Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic that we will send Ukrainian rescue units to aid with recovering from this natural disaster,” Sybiha posted to X.
