Czechs have raised over €8 million for drones for Ukraine in one year

The Czech initiative to raise funds for the purchase of drones for the Ukrainian military has raised more than CZK 203 million (over €8 million) to date.

Source: Skupina D, an organisation that organises a fundraiser called Drone Nemesis, on Thursday, as reported by European Pravda, citing Radio Prague International

Details: The organisation began fundraising two days before Christmas last year and raised 203.67 million crowns in almost a year.

One of its initiators, Jan Veverka, noted that approximately 12,000 drones have been sent to Ukraine, with another 3,000 awaiting shipment. The original goal was to raise CZK 100 million (about €4 million).

The organisation also introduced a new project to raise money to buy 100 tonnes of plastic explosives and other engineering and pyrotechnic equipment.

The new project, named Spravedlivá odplata (Just Retribution), aims to raise funds to purchase 100 tonnes of plastic explosives. Representatives of the organisation state that the explosives will be acquired gradually, in batches of five tonnes, with each batch, including transportation, costing approximately CZK 10 million (€398,000).

According to Milan Mikulecký, a representative of the organisation, the explosives can be used not only in combat but also for mine clearance.

The honorary chairman of the organisation is the Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, Karel Řehka, whose involvement in the project was previously criticised by Defence Minister Jana Černochová. Since June, the organisation has been under inspection by Czech Defence Ministry inspectors. In November, the Czech military informed Deník N that the preliminary results of the inspection contained no critical comments.

Background: 

• Earlier this year, Slovak citizens dissatisfied with the failure of Robert Fico's government to support Ukraine with weapons raised €4 million to buy shells for Ukraine.
• The Slovak prime minister, moreover, disdained the collection.

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