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Leading Czech politicians and official channels have condemned Monday’s wave of Russian rocket strikes against Ukrainian cities. The Twitter account of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the attacks as “another display of Russian cynicism and barbarism” and called on the Russian Federation to “stop this senseless war!”

Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated that the attacks on Ukrainian cities are not aimed at damaging military infrastructure. “It’s about murdering the civilian population and spreading fear,” he said. Deputy Premier Ivan Bartoš called the bombings “nothing else than a vengeful war crime” and offered his condolences to the victims. Meanwhile, the chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security, Pavel Fischer, said that the extensive rocket strikes against Ukraine show these are not accidents but an intentional “war crime”.

The wave of Russian strikes came just two days after an explosion damaged the Kerch bridge, which connects mainland Russia with the occupied Crimean peninsula. In a Monday speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Kerch bridge explosion a “terrorist attack”, blaming Ukraine for the incident. He threatened a “harsh response” if such attacks were to continue. The BBC reports that Ukraine's air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said Russia launched 83 missiles of which than 43 had been shot down by air defences.

The unemployment rate in Czechia grew by 0.1 percent to 3.5 percent between the months of August and September, the Labour Office announced on Monday, with 256,380 people registered as looking for work. At the same time, the Labour Office reported that employers were offering 306,098 jobs, a decrease by roughly 6,200 when compared to August.

While it may be small, the September rise in unemployment was the first registered in that period in month-on-month terms since 2013. Analysts questioned by the Czech News Agency said that this was an indication of the beginning of a cool down in the Czech economy. They expect unemployment will continue a slow rise in the coming months, as a result of economic slowdown. However, they said that it was unlikely that this will lead to any radical downsizing wave among the country’s businesses.

The coronavirus epidemic is receding in Czechia, the Czech News Agency reported on Monday citing data from the Ministry of Health. While daily infections were growing in week-on-week terms in September, the first week of October saw week-on-week detection of positive cases fall also during working days for the first time since the end of August.

However, the incidence number – the average number of cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days – remains largely unchanged, lying at a nationwide average of 168. The Hradec Králové Region was most affected, with an average of 201 cases. It was also at the University Hospital of Hradec Králové that the second case of the new fast-spreading Omicron variant BA.2.75, nicknamed “Centaurus”, was sequenced in mid-September. Meanwhile, the Karlovy Vary Region had the lowest incidence number – 112.

Czech Barbora Krejčíková won the Angel Open tournament in Ostrava, after defeating Iga Swiatek of Poland. The Czech rallied from a set down to defeat the top seed 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 in a battle that lasted over three hours.

It was Krejčíková’s first win against Swiatek, having lost their previous two matches, and her second title in as many weeks, after winning the trophy in Tallinn last Sunday against Anett Kontaveit.