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Czech politicians have slammed an article published on the website of Russian state-wide television channel Zvezda, run by the Russian Defense Ministry, on Tuesday, maintaining that Czechs should be grateful that Soviet-led forces invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968.

The article in question claimed that the forces had prevented the West from orchestrating a coup in the then-communist country by means, it claimed, which were delayed until 1989.

On the contrary, the Soviet-led invasion in 1968 crushed the period of democratic reforms in Czechoslovakia known as the Prague Spring. The events of 1968 ushered in the so-called Normalisation period during the 1970s and Soviet troops would remain on Czechoslovak soil for more than 20 years.

The article, written by Leonid Maslovskij, caught many off guard as it was published the same day Czech President Miloš Zeman met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Sochi and later travelled to Moscow. According to iDnes, Mr Zeman, widely seen as a pro-Russia politician, was angered by the report; Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek slammed the article as twisting and misinterpreting historical facts and made clear such articles were no way forward to good relations.

Defence Minister Martin Stropnický went further by calling the article “outright lies” and expressed regret the article had come during an official state visit by the Czech head of state. President Miloš Zeman will reportedly address the matter while in Russia.

Zvezda responded that the opinions expressed in the article were the author’s own.

English actor Sacha Baron Cohen has offered to help a group of Czech tourists who were arrested last week in the Kazakh capital of Astana last week for disorderly conduct. The group of six changed into black wigs and neon-green thong swimsuits, similar to those worn by the actor in the film Borat, attempting to take a picture in front of a panel saying ‘I love Astana.’

They were released after paying a fine of 22,500 tenge (approximately 60 euros). The comedian, on facebook, offered to pay the fine if the Czechs got back to him with details.

Wednesday will be mostly cloudy with some sunny periods. Daytime temperatures should reach highs of around 10 degrees Celsius.

Josef Toman, disqualified from the presidential race for providing too few signatures (from a minimum 50,000 needed) by the November 7 deadline, says he will take legal action over the matter. The candidate said he had gathered almost 75,000 signatures which he had sent to the Interior Ministry by mail.

On the day he filed, the candidate had just 11 signatures from members of the public; the Interior Ministry said it had not received more. Of the 20 people who filed to run, only nine candidates’ registrations were accepted.