Czech Teacher Gets Suspended Sentence for Justifying Russian Aggression in Ukraine

A Prague court sentenced Martina Bednarzhová to a seven-month suspended term and banned her from teaching for three years after she characterized Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine as “justified” during an April 2022 stylistics lesson. It was reported on May 29 by ČTK.

Bednarzhová told eighth-grade pupils that “nothing was happening” in Kyiv and that Russia’s actions were a justified way to resolve the war .

When students challenged her, she replied that Czech state television was biased and claimed that Ukrainian “Nazi groups in Donbas” had been systematically targeting Russians since 2014.

The Prague 6 District Court, hearing her case for the third time, had previously acquitted her twice, but in January the Czech Supreme Court overturned those rulings and ordered a retrial.

The court ultimately found her guilty of violating education law, imposed a seven-month suspended sentence with a 20-month probation period, and required her to complete a media literacy course alongside the three-year teaching ban. The ruling is not final; Bednarzhová, who is campaigning for the Stačilo!  movement, called the verdict political.

Previously, it was reported that Czechia sent 400,000 new artillery shells to Ukraine, raising the bilateral supply to nearly two million rounds by 2022. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal highlighted this ammunition support and Prague’s extension of its Ukraine recovery program through 2030, with annual aid exceeding $43 million, underscores a durable defense partnership.

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