Czech Cyclist Rides a Bike Called "Ukraine" to Moscow, Shouts "Slava Ukraini" on Red Square

Czech traveler David Pichal cycled from the Estonian border town of Narva all the way to Moscow, and on August 12 filmed himself on Red Square shouting "Slava Ukraini" ("Glory to Ukraine"). The journey took eight days — and, fittingly, the bicycle itself happened to be a Ukraina-brand model, a detail Pichal treated as deeply symbolic.

"The main reason for the trip is solidarity. Sure, I love the adrenaline, but solidarity with a country that has been suffering from an invasion for five years matters more to me. It feels like people back home have stopped paying as much attention — whether out of fatigue or simply not wanting to follow the news anymore. But I think support is still needed, maybe even more so today than before," the traveler said.

He admitted the trip wasn't easy: the bike's pedal came loose twice and had to be welded back on along the way, and he also had two flat tires. The bicycle itself is ten years old — Pichal thanked it for getting him all the way to Moscow, before shouting his "Slava Ukraini" right there on Red Square.

"This statement is definitely going to attract a ton of haters. I can't wait to see the comments and reposts start rolling in," he added.

The trip caught the attention of the Ukrainian outlet Yevropeiska Pravda, which noted that Pichal is nicknamed "Yebal" and hails from Prostějov. The Latvian news portal Baltijas Balss also picked up the story, pointing out that Russian authorities never detained the Czech over his stunt.

A Greeting for President Pavel from Red Square

The traveler dedicated a separate part of his video to Czech President Petr Pavel. "I want to say hello to someone I have enormous respect for, and every time I see him in the media, I feel real admiration for him. Of course, I'm talking about our president, Petr Pavel," Pichal said, unzipping his jacket to reveal a T-shirt printed with the head of state's portrait.

"He's an island of hope on our political scene. Perhaps the only one — which is why I hope he runs for a second term," the traveler added.

Burning Warehouses and Gas Station Queues

By his own count, Pichal cycled a total of 1,473 kilometers — from Estonia's Narva to Moscow — before continuing on by train to Kursk and Belgorod. He left the bicycle behind in Kursk and carried on without it, since finishing the journey by bike risked overstaying his visa. "I didn't even lock it — it's just sitting in a park waiting for a new owner," he wrote in another post.

"Along the way, I lived through several drone attacks, watched attempts to shoot them down, saw warehouses on fire, and stood in gas lines hundreds of meters long," the traveler recounted.

He also noted that Russian authorities never checked him at all — as if, in his words, he was invisible to them. "Even though I looked extremely conspicuous and out of place on the roads, no one ever checked me, not even at military checkpoints right in Kursk. For some reason, I was invisible and unnoticed by every security service. The only person who asked me anything was an elderly man who wanted to know who was on my T-shirt," Pichal said, adding that he told the man it was a portrait of his grandfather.

On Wednesday, he posted on social media that he had returned to the "free world." He later told the outlet that he is currently in Estonia and admitted he was surprised by how much interest his trip had generated. Attached to his Wednesday post was a short video of him stepping on a sticker depicting Vladimir Putin — his face marked with what looks like a bloodstain and the caption "murderer."

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Source: novinky.cz