Ukraine conflict: Czech Republic donates attack helicopters to Kyiv

The Czech Republic has a number of Mi-24/35 attack helicopters that it has now donated to Ukraine. (Janes/Patrick Allen)

The Czech Republic has donated attack helicopters to Ukraine, the US government disclosed on 23 May.

In wider comments on international aid to Kyiv, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said that Prague had made a donation of attack helicopters as part of a larger military package.

“I'd also like to thank the Czech Republic for its substantial support, including a recent donation of attack helicopters, tanks, and rocket systems,” he said.

Austin did not disclose the attack helicopter type donated by the Czechs, but the only types that fit the bill are the Mil Mi-24 ‘Hind' that the NATO country has operated since its Warsaw Pact days, and the derived Mi-35 ‘Hind-E' it received in 2005.

As noted by Janes World Air Forces , the Czech Air Force (CzAF) component of the Army of the Czech Republic (Armáda Ceské Republiky: ACR) operates seven Mi-24V and 10 Mi-35 helicopters. The US statement did not say how many helicopters had been donated.