Czech Ministry of Defense proposes creating defense units for Ukraine

She mentioned this on ČT24, as quoted by Radio Prague.

"We want to continue training Ukrainian soldiers, so why not include Czech citizens who identify as Ukrainian and form a unit?" Černochová said.

According to the minister, the Czech Republic is contemplating allowing Ukrainian refugees to "voluntarily, without any coercion," join the legion to help their homeland.

"The Ukrainian community in the Czech Republic is large, even without counting the war-related influx. So, it makes sense," Černochová emphasized.

She added that Ukrainians with Czech citizenship could also join the legion.

The spokesman for the Czech Ministry of Defense told Novinky that his department is currently evaluating the Polish project to create the Ukrainian Legion "from a practical and legal standpoint."

"The Ministry of Defense is gathering more information from the Polish side about the establishment of the so-called Ukrainian Legion. Once we have this information, we will consider the possibility of our involvement," he told iDnes.cz.

The outlet notes that these statements do not imply that the Czech Republic has decided to establish a unit of Ukrainians. Instead, Czech instructors might simply participate in the training of the Ukrainian Legion in Poland.

What is known about the Ukrainian Legion

Earlier, Ukraine's Minister of Defense, Rustem Umerov, called on all Ukrainians in Europe to join the Ukrainian Legion. He stated that the legion would be equipped with top-tier equipment, and volunteers would be trained by Poland, Lithuania, and other EU countries.

The creation of the Ukrainian Legion is part of the Agreement on Security Guarantees signed by Ukraine and Poland. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that any Ukrainian citizen who joins the legion could sign a contract with the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

On July 11, the head of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that several thousand Ukrainians in Poland had already registered to participate in the Ukrainian Legion.

It was later reported that Ukrainian Legion members would be recruited at Ukrainian consular institutions in Poland.