Ukraine war: Czech crowdfunding buys 'Tomas the tank' for Ukraine
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Loading... - Louis Robert
- 05 Oct 2022
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Dubbed "a gift for Putin", the campaign received donations from 11,288 individual donors, and organisers say it is the first purchase of its kind.
The modernised Soviet-era T-72 tank named Tomas will be sent to Ukraine.
The fund was backed by the Czech defence ministry and Ukraine's embassy in Prague.
In a message posted to Twitter, the Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova joked that contributors had bought Russian President Vladimir Putin - who marks his 70th birthday on 7 October - "a proper present".
"Many thanks to all of you who buy him 'gifts' in the form of support for Ukraine," she quipped.
"Once again, thank you very much for your generosity and solidarity. We must continue to help Ukraine! All of us. And we will!"
The Ukrainian ambassador in Prague, Yevhen Perebyynis, tweeted: "The Czech Republic has become the first country where ordinary people bought a tank for [the Ukrainian Defence Ministry]."
The T-72 Avenger is a modernised version of the Soviet-era tank that first entered production in 1969. It has been fitted with a new device to create a smoke screen in combat and has an upgraded front cannon.
But organisers say they will continue collecting donations to supply Ukrainian forces with a host of other military essentials, including drones, thermal clothing, bulletproof vests and ammunition.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Western governments have supplied Ukrainian forces with huge amounts of military hardware. The US has supplied over $15.1bn in assistance since 24 February, while the UK has committed £2.3bn, according to the UK's House of Commons research service.
Governments in central and eastern Europe have also donated massive sums to Kyiv's forces. Poland is believed to have donated around 230 tanks and the Czech government was an early supplier of hardware. Read More...
