Colonel Foltýn escapes punishment over anti-Putin patch in Czechia

Colonel Foltýn of the military office received only a verbal reprimand for a patch cursing Putin that he wore on his uniform sleeve during an August trip to Ukraine. No disciplinary punishment was imposed. This was reported by MP Rajchl, who published the reply to his inquiry.

Rajchl had turned to the military office precisely because of that trip. The colonel’s uniform sleeve bore a patch reading “FCK YOU PUTIN”. He posted the reply on Facebook on Tuesday.

In his reply, the head of the military office, Radek Hasala, stressed that the patch is not an official insignia or part of the uniform, so wearing it could be neither approved nor permitted. At the same time, he said, Foltýn himself drew the leadership’s attention to the breach of discipline and sent 10,000 crowns to charity. In view of this, Hasala decided to sternly point out the unlawful conduct to the colonel but not to impose a disciplinary penalty.

Rajchl was not satisfied with the decision. He called it “final confirmation of complete legal anarchy” regarding the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and promised not to let the matter rest: he intends to discuss the incident in the defence committee.

Foltýn himself spoke about the offence back in August, also on Facebook. He said he still stands by the inscription on the patch. It was inspired by a photo of the bound hands of a murdered volunteer, Serhiy Oleksandrovych Sova, whose wife identified him after exhumation from a mass grave by the yellow-and-blue bracelet made by their daughter Elina. The colonel said he sent the money that spared him a penalty to the Memory of the Nation organisation to help Ukraine.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz