Hundreds of thousands of people fled to the Czech Republic before the war in Ukraine by the Russian armed forces. The domestic media offer refugees an information service to unparalleled extent. Ukrainian television and radio stations are broadcast in the Czech Republic, and special websites are also in up and running.

The war in Ukraine also drove journalists from their homes. As the Russian aggression continues, they find employment in the Czech Republic. They participated in projects for their compatriots in the newly established newsrooms. Here is an overview of some of them.

For Ukraine

The Czech News Center Media House has launched a website in Ukrainian. Proukrainu.cz will help refugees with life in the Czech Republic. The website, which is supposed to practically guide Ukrainian refugees in the first days and weeks in the new country, consists primarily of journalists who came to our country due to the war.

"Our team consists mostly of journalists who have also been forced to leave Ukraine to escape the bombings and horrific crimes committed by Russia in our country. So, we know from our own experience what essentials and problems await Ukrainians away from home, because we went through it ourselves. We have already prepared the answers to the most pressing questions that will help everyone in everyday decision-making and start a new life in the Czech Republic," said the editor-in-chief Natalia Agarkova, who has run the Velykyi Luh radio and television company in Zaporizhzhia for the past 15 years.

Her team is also joined by Ukrainians who have lived in the Czech Republic for a long time and know Czech realities very well.

Czech Television

Since March 12, the public television has been offering simultaneous translation of the main news program Events into Ukrainian on the Internet and on HbbTV. The news interpreted in this way is archived on the Internet. Since March 23, the Ukrainian soundtrack has been accessible via the dual broadcast function on the ČT24 station.

Ukrainian journalists who recently left their country before the war are involved in Czech Television news.

Seznam in Ukrainian

Seznam News since the beginning of April launched a section in the Ukrainian language. Its editor is Daria Dziuba. "Our goal is to inform and practically advise Ukrainians who fled to the Czech Republic before the Russian aggression in Ukraine. In this way, we want to help them get to know the new environment better. On the website you will always find texts by Ukrainian authors, as well as translations of some articles from the List News team," he wrote in the introductory text.

The co-authors of the new section will also be Ukrainians who have been forced to leave their homes temporarily. "We are cooperating with the Embassy of Ukraine in Prague and some Czech authorities that take care of refugees from Ukraine and their integration into Czech society," the author added.

Czech Radio

Since Monday, April 4, Czech Radio has been broadcasting a four-minute news program in Ukrainian on the Radiožurnál and Plus stations. It is included in the broadcast after the end of regular news at 18.30. The session is prepared by the Radio Prague International newsroom, i.e. the broadcast of Czech Radio for Foreign Affairs. The same team produces the news podcast for Ukrainians in the Czech Republic.

Since March 3, Czech Radio has also been helping to spread the Internet broadcast of Ukrainian public radio, which it has included in its My Radio application and in its DAB+ multiplex. The private networks of the operators Color DAB +, RTI CZ and Teleko also take over the broadcasting. It is also available via DVB-T2, in Multiplex 23 Czech Radiocommunications.

The special summary subpage mujrozhlas.cz/ukrajina offers a practical Ukrainian-Czech audio dictionary with lessons for children and adults, with the help of which they will learn basic Czech phrases. They can also listen to fairy tales in Ukrainian from Czech writers.

In addition to engaging Ukrainian associates, the domestic media support war refugees in other ways as well. TV Nova streams the broadcast of the private Ukrainian station 1+1 on its website and has added the children's program PlusPlus.

Samsung has launched two applications with television content for viewers from Ukraine on its smart TVs intended for the Czech market. It is a long-prepared IPTV service Sweet.TV, which is intended for Ukrainians living and working in the Czech Republic, as well as a free-to-air public news station UA: Pershy.

Visitors to the CNN Prima News website can open a special section with news translated into Russian. "CNN Prima News reports in detail on the war in Ukraine and has its reporters directly in the attacked country. With the news project in Russian, we want to bring the real events in Ukraine closer to people who do not speak Czech, but live in the Czech Republic, for example, and are dependent only on Russian television news," the editorial staff explained its decision.

The daily summary of information in Russian is also published by the news portal Novinky.cz.