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‘A Gift for Putin’: Czech volunteers raise €2.9 mln to buy Black Hawk for Ukraine

The helicopter will
Ukraine will use the helicopter for evacuating soldiers and conducting special operations. Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Getty Images.
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A Czech volunteer group has raised €2.9 million to buy an American military helicopter for Ukraine.

The initiative, called “A Gift for Putin,” began crowdfunding for the Black Hawk helicopter in November 2023, with more than 20,642 donors contributing to the cause.

According to the initiative’s website, Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) will use the helicopter for evacuating soldiers and conducting special operations.

The organizers wrote: “We did it! Czechs are sending a Black Hawk helicopter to Ukraine. We managed to get a cheaper and newer machine that Ukraine needs.”

“Let’s finish what we started together and send Čestmír to fight against the dark Empire,” they added, referring to the helicopter’s symbolic name ‘Čestmír,’ which means ‘one who values honor’ in Czech, while likening Vladimir Putin’s regime to a ‘dark empire.’

The statement continued: “Ukraine cannot win the war with drones or ammunition alone. It also needs tanks, aircraft, howitzers—and helicopters for special operations.”

Czechs have now become the first nation to purchase a military helicopter for Ukraine.

The organizers continue to run additional campaigns, including initiatives to buy ammunition and drones for the Ukrainian military.
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