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The Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi has thanked the Czech Republic and Poland for the countries’ “brotherly help” in its ongoing defense against Russian aggression. The official Twitter account of the Ukrainian Embassy in the Czech Republic cited him as thanking both countries for the tanks that they have sent to Ukraine and saying that Ukraine’s Armed Forces are fighting for their home country as well as for the Czech Republic and Poland.

Both the Czech Republic and Poland have sent Soviet-era tanks, as well as other military equipment, to Ukraine to bolster its armed forces since the begining of the conflict.

Traditional celebrations of Cyril and Methodius Day in the Moravian municipality of Velehrad, one of the most important religious sites in the Czech Republic, culminated on Tuesday with a mass held by Cardinal Michael Czerny. The Brno-born Canadian prefect of the Catholic Church’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development spoke about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which he called a “criminal conflict” against the “whole civilized world”, and praised the amount of support in the Czech Republic for refugees fleeing the conflict.

July 5 is a public holiday in the Czech Republic, marking the arrival of Orthodox missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia in 863. The event is being marked by municipalities across the country flying the Czech flag. In Moravia, hundreds of local councils and public buildings are also flying the flag of Moravia, the Czech News Agency reports.

The two Orthodox monks from the Byzantine Empire were invited by the then Duke of Moravia Rostislav, who, historians believe, was trying to limit the influence of neighboring East Frankia.

The Czech Republic is among the 40 states to sign the Lugano Declaration, a document to come out of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland, which commits the signatories to support Ukraine throughout its path from early to long-term recovery from the war which Russia has been waging on its territory. The parties also recognised the Ukraine-led draft of the relevant Recovery and Development Plan.

The declaration also emphasizes the importance of institutional reforms, transparency and sustainability in the recovery process, including tackling corruption. The document also invites entities from the private sector, academia and civil society to enter into partnership with their Ukrainian counterparts in the process.

The two-day conference started on Monday, July 4, and was attended by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala who said in his opening speech that the international community must be ready to help Ukraine rebuild and should already begin with the reconstruction of damaged Ukrainian cities so that their residents can start returning home.

Mr Fiala also reiterated that rebuilding Ukraine is one of the priorities of the ongoing Czech EU presidency and that it is “clear” that a large part of the reconstruction will be conducted by the European Union. He also said that the Czech Republic will continue to supply the country with arms.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that around USD 750 billion will be needed to rebuild the country that was invaded by the Russian Federation in February. Mr Fiala, who spoke with the Ukrainian head of government about areas where the Czech Republic could help, mentioned sectors such as transport, healthcare and nuclear energy.

The cause of the fire which occurred at an Alzheimer's centre in Roztoky on June 1 is either due to negligence or a technical fault, Czech Television reported on Monday, quoting a press release by Vlasta Suchánková, spokeswoman for the Central Bohemian Police. Investigators are currently pursuing both lines of inquiry and have requested several expert statements and opinions.

If convicted of negligence, the court could sentence the offender to up to eight years in prison. The police are also investigating the responsibility of individual people. At the start of the investigation, the police had not ruled out arson as a possible cause.

55 people were injured in the fire and two women died. According to preliminary autopsy results, both died as a result of poisoning by inhaling combustion fumes. The material damage caused reached around 70 million crowns.