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A Russian court has sentenced a Czech woman in absentia to 13 years in prison for allegedly fighting on the side of Ukraine, the Investigative Committee - Russia’s main federal criminal authority - announced on Monday. Investigators claim the 24-year-old served in Ukraine’s 59th Brigade from November 2023 to June 2024 and was convicted under Russian law of mercenary participation in an armed conflict, as she allegedly received payment.

The spokesperson for the Czech Foreign Ministry, Daniel Drake, said the Ministry is closely monitoring the case and he questioned the independence of Russia’s judiciary, citing political influence and a lack of rule of law.

Kometa Brno and Sparta Prague will enter the Champions Hockey League playoffs this week, both starting away from home  - Brno on Tuesday against Swedish championship winner Luleå HF, and Sparta on Wednesday against the Swiss EV Zug.

Sparta finished fourth in the group stage, winning five of six games, while Zug placed 14th. The match will be particularly interesting for Sparta goalie Jakub Kovář, who could face his younger brother Jan, captain of EV Zug.

Both Brno and Luleå earned ten points in the Champions League group stage, finishing 8th and 9th respectively, making their matchup one of the most evenly balanced in the playoffs.

The “Gift for Putin” campaign raised 12.5 million CZK (EUR 500,000) from donors for a FP-5 "Flamingo" cruise missile named DANA 1 in honour of the late Czech nuclear physicist Dana Drábová - but now Ukraine will receive two. Organisers confirmed to Novinky.cz that the manufacturer of the weapons will supply two missiles for the price of one, thus, creating a second missile - DANA 2.

Furthermore, the campaign exceeded its target and raised 16 million CZK (EUR 650,000). Organisers announced on social media that the public will be invited to vote on how to use the surplus, with options including ambulances, explosives, or a training aircraft.

Likely next prime minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) says that next year’s budget, prepared by the outgoing government, is missing over CZK 85 billion (EUR 3.5 billion) in spending and includes CZK 15 billion (EUR 620 million) in “inflated” or non-existent revenue. He made the claims in a video posted on social media on Sunday. The outgoing government has rejected the criticism.

ANO deputy chair Alena Schillerová said earlier last week that the draft budget lacks CZK 38 billion (EUR 1.6 billion) for transport infrastructure and CZK 32 billion (EUR 1.3 billion) for legally required expenses. Babiš claims the outgoing government is avoiding resubmitting the budget to parliament to conceal these gaps, while outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala (Civic Democratic Party) responded on X that Babiš is deflecting attention from the fact that ANO has no budget draft of its own and will need a large deficit to fund its “unrealistic election promises.”