Czech Republic hands over new batch of Mi-24 helicopters to Ukraine
The Czech government has authorized the transfer of the last two Mi-24 helicopters to Ukraine as part of its support for Russia’s aggression, Denikn reports. These are two aircraft with tail numbers 3365 and 3366.
According to Defense Minister Jana Černohová, these were the last Soviet-made helicopters of the Mi-24/35 series, which had been in service with the Czech Republic for more than 40 years.
The decision to secretly transfer these helicopters was made to help Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. Chernokhova also noted that the Czech Republic no longer has any other equipment that it could transfer.
The Mi-24 is a Soviet infantry support helicopter. The Mi-24 concept provides for close cooperation with armored and infantry units during a large-scale military conflict. By the way, the Mi-24 is one of the symbols of the war in Afghanistan. Today, the helicopter is in service in many countries, including Ukraine.
The Czech Ministry of Defense reports that the first shells under the Czech initiative should arrive in Ukraine no later than June. As a reminder, Czech President Petr Pavel announced at the Munich Security Conference that his country had found up to 800,000 artillery shells that could be sent to Ukraine, which is currently experiencing a significant shortage of artillery on the battlefield, in a few weeks.
