Zelenskyy honors bloodstained Czechoslovak flag from Soviet invasion of Prague
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy honored a historic Czechoslovak flag on Ukraine’s National Flag Day that was carried in Prague on Aug. 21, 1968, when Soviet-led Warsaw Pact forces invaded Czechoslovakia.
On Ukraine’s National Flag Day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy paid tribute to a historical Czechoslovak flag that had been carried in Prague during the Soviet invasion of 1968. The flag, still bearing the blood of Czech defenders who perished while safeguarding the Prague radio station, was presented to Ukraine by Ambassador Vasyl Zvarych on August 23.
Czech serviceman Otakar Foltýn had transported the flag to Kyiv, following its deployment on the front lines in Ukraine. Ukrainian forces then added a blue-and-yellow ribbon to the flag in acknowledgment of Czech Republic's support.
Foltýn, an eyewitness to the flag's journey, noted that the sacrifices made by Czech resistance fighters during the 1968 Soviet occupation and Ukraine's ongoing fight against Russian aggression share the same cost: the lives and blood of heroes defending freedom. Zvarych stated that Zelenskyy's gesture demonstrated Ukraine's reverence not only for its own heroes but also for individuals from other nations who fought Soviet totalitarianism and safeguarded their right to independence.
On August 23, leaders from several Nordic and Baltic countries arrived in Kyiv to join the commemorative events and partake in the Nordic-Baltic Eight meeting.
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