Czechs mark 45th anniversary of Soviet-led invasion

The Czech Republic is marking the 45th anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops. A traditional commemorative ceremony took place on Wednesday morning in front of the Czech Radio building on Prague’s Vinohradská St., attended by Prime Minister Jíří Rusnok, outgoing chairwoman of the lower house of Parliament Miroslava Němcová and other dignitaries. Various civic associations will hold related events on the main squares of the capital and elsewhere around the country. Over 100 Czechoslovaks were killed in the invasion, when an estimated 500,000 soldiers invaded their country in the early hours of August 21 1968 in order to quell the Prague Spring reform movement.

Author: Masha Volynsky