Putin's sanctioned ideologue speaks at Prague conference of the "Svatopluk" movement, with Reichl and Pecina in attendance

On Saturday, Prague hosted a conference organized by the "Svatopluk" association, featuring an online address by Fyodor Lukyanov — a Russian propagandist close to Putin who has been placed on the EU sanctions list for justifying Russian aggression against Ukraine. Representatives of the governing SPD movement took part in the same discussion panel alongside him.

Lukyanov is known for his fawning interviews with Vladimir Putin himself and regularly blames the United States, NATO, and the European Union for triggering the war against Ukraine. He couldn't attend in person — sanctions bar him from entering EU territory — so he joined via video link, first listening to about an hour of remarks from his fellow panelists.

Who shared the stage with him

Jindřich Rejchl, deputy chair of the parliamentary defense committee (chairman of the PRO party and a member of the SPD faction), and former Interior Minister Martin Pecina, who now serves as a security advisor to Tomio Okamura's movement, were both present at the daytime event. Some media outlets have previously speculated that Pecina could return to the post of interior minister in the event of a government reshuffle.

Lukyanov thanked the organizers for their "courage," claiming that discussions about the military conflict were supposedly less restricted in Russia than in the EU — conveniently omitting the fact that criticizing the Russian army is a criminal offense there, and that numerous Kremlin critics have died under suspicious circumstances.

Asked whether "Russophobic hysteria" surrounding the hybrid attacks Russia is being warned about by Western intelligence services could lead to escalation, Lukyanov dismissed Moscow's nuclear threats as merely "an attempt to warn the West." He also cited Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's remarks about the alleged absence of any peace discussion in Europe, entirely ignoring Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, its occupation of Ukrainian territory, and its shelling of civilians.

Babiš stays silent, opposition demands a response

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš declined to say whether he considers the participation of his coalition partners' representatives in an event featuring a sanctioned ideologue to be a security threat. This comes even as Babiš himself has claimed the Czech Republic is in a state of hybrid war with Russia — and experts note that attempts to divide society through disinformation are precisely one of the hallmarks of such warfare.

Rejchl, who as deputy chair of the defense committee has access to classified information about Czech security, appeared on the same panel as Lukyanov and, in a prepared speech delivered in Czech, criticized the media, saying he had no doubts about taking part in the conference "so as not to let them win."

ODS leader Martin Kupka publicly called on Babiš to distance himself from Rejchl's participation in the event, invoking the sabotage incidents in Germany and the attack on a passenger train near the Polish border. Former Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (STAN) compared the situation to a Trojan horse being triumphantly wheeled into the city.

Pecina doubted Russia's role in Vrbětice

Pecina claimed he had not known the sanctioned propagandist would be taking part in the event. During his own panel, he questioned whether Russian intelligence services were really behind the explosions at the Vrbětice ammunition depot, which killed two people, arguing there was insufficient evidence, and criticized the expulsion of Russian diplomats carried out by the previous Babiš government.

Zeman praised China, Orbán criticized the EU

Earlier that day, former President Miloš Zeman addressed the conference, speaking for roughly ten minutes about closer ties with communist China and criticizing Czech politicians who maintain relations with Taiwan. Sharing his panel was former Slovak Prime Minister Ján Čarnogurský, who has called Russia "the guarantor of Slovak sovereignty" and received an order from Putin in 2022. Also taking part in the discussion was Balázs Orbán, a close aide to former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has previously stated that Hungary would likely not resist a Russian invasion.

Former MEP and advisor to Motoristé leader Petr Macinka, Jan Zahradil, decided to withdraw from the panel with Zeman after learning that the sanctioned Lukyanov would also be taking part.

Organizers and ties to foreign propaganda

The "Svatopluk" association was founded by political scientist Petr Drulák, economist Ilona Švihlíková, and publicist Michal Semín. According to the organization's own 2025 annual report, it has around a thousand members, with revenues of roughly two million crowns, of which 960,000 came from membership fees. Past "Svatopluk" events have featured current Foreign Minister Petr Macinka, representatives of the "Stačilo!" and "Tricolor" movements, as well as SPD leader Tomio Okamura.

Ladislav Zemánek, moderator of one of the panels and a contributor to the outlet Parlamentní listy, previously worked as an analyst at the China-CEE Institute, an organization funded by China's communist regime, and is listed as a member of the Valdai Club — a Putin propaganda outfit whose leadership includes Lukyanov himself. Last year, Zemánek already met with Lukyanov in Russia while on a scholarship funded by the Russian state.

In comments to Parlamentní listy, Drulák questioned the legitimacy of the EU sanctions against Lukyanov, claiming he merely "soberly explains his country's policy." According to the EU's official justification for the sanctions, however, Lukyanov "plays a substantial role in shaping public opinion and providing ideological cover for Russian aggression," and his work at the Valdai Club and the journal Russia in Global Affairs directly supports Kremlin foreign policy narratives and disinformation campaigns that shift blame for the war onto Ukraine and the West.

In total, around thirty speakers from the Czech Republic, Russia, China, Iran, Hungary, Serbia, and Nigeria took part in the conference.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz