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The Prague Municipal Court has confirmed that Belarusian journalist Natalia Sudlianková, who worked in the Czech Republic for many years, was an influential agent of Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU, and actively spread Russian propaganda.

Sudlianková, who had previously been granted asylum in Czechia, was placed on the government’s sanctions list in April 2025 and forced to leave the country. The court rejected her lawsuit against the decision, drawing also on classified information, iRozhlas reported Friday.

According to the ruling, Sudlianková was instructed and paid by a GRU officer and an employee of USM Holding, founded by sanctioned Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov. She secretly worked in the interests of Russian organisations, including the GRU, the Foundation for the Protection and Support of the Rights of Compatriots Abroad and the Immortal Regiment of Russia.

Her activities were uncovered by the Security Information Service, which prompted the government to sanction both Sudlianková and her alleged liaison officer Alexei Shavrov. Both were ordered to leave Czechia within 30 days.

Parts of Bohemia and western Moravia could be hit by further severe thunderstorms on Friday afternoon and overnight into Saturday, with wind gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour and rainfall of up to 70 millimetres, which could bring on flash floods in places, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said.

The high-level warning is in effect from 4 p.m. Friday for a belt stretching from South Bohemia through the Central Bohemian Region and Vysočina to the Pardubice and Hradec Králové regions and parts of the Liberec Region.

A roughly 30-metre-high wind turbine with an installed capacity of 0.15 megawatts collapsed into a field near Potštát in the Přerov district on Thursday. No one was injured.

Police said strong winds may have caused the collapse. The turbine's blades had become jammed and the facility had been out of operation since early July. Its owner estimated the damage at 200,000 Czech crowns.

According to the Czech Wind Energy Association, it is the first such case recorded in the Czech Republic.

Czechs are marking the 58th anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops that crushed the Prague Spring reform movement in 1968.

The invasion began overnight on August 21, 1968 and dozens of Czechoslovak citizens were killed in the first hours of the invasion alone, either in clashes with the troops or in traffic accidents caused by the occupying forces.

Commemorative events honoring their memory are taking place around the country.

In Prague one of the main events was held outside Czech Radio’s headquarters on Vinohradska street where some of the worst clashes with the invaders took place.

Addressing the gathering, President Pavel stressed the importance of public-service media both in August 1968 and today, when, he said, there is once again pressure to restrict them.

Senate Speaker Miloš Vystrčil, echoed those sentiments, saying that Independent media and courage are among the first targets of those in power, who want to impose “normalization” and bring society under control. He called for courage and urged people not to “bend their spines.”

The speeches of Chamber of Deputies Speaker Tomio Okamura and Finance Minister Alena Schillerová, who represented the ruling parties, were met with booing and chants of “shame”, reflecting anger over the government’s plan to abolish license fees and replace them with state funds. Many fear this would leave the public broadcasters vulnerable to political pressure.

Cultural events marking the anniversary in Prague include the NeverMore 68 festival at Prague's Exhibition Grounds and a Music Against Forgetting event in the lower part of Wenceslas Square.