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American actor Leonardo DiCaprio is expected to arrive in Prague later this week to join the cast of What Happens at Night, a new feature directed by Martin Scorsese. The 83-year-old filmmaker reportedly reached the Czech capital in mid-February. The production also stars Jennifer Lawrence, Mads Mikkelsen and Patricia Clarkson. The Apple-backed film is based on a novel by American writer Peter Cameron. It follows an American couple seeking to adopt a child in a snowy European city, where strange hotel guests blur the boundaries between reality and illusion.

Ukraine received 1.96 million large-calibre artillery shells last year through the Czech ammunition initiative, National Security Advisor Hynek Kmoníček told senators on Monday. The figure is higher than the previously reported 1.8 million rounds and represents roughly 48 percent of all such deliveries to Ukraine in 2024. In the key 155mm calibre, the share reached 52 percent. The scheme, coordinated by Czechia in cooperation mainly with the Netherlands and Denmark, secures funding from partner countries rather than the Czech state budget. For this year, financing has so far been arranged for 880,000 rounds. Ukraine is currently seeking extended-range ammunition exceeding 30 kilometres, using between 3,000 and 8,000 shells daily, Kmoníček said.

Most Czechs support humanitarian and diplomatic assistance for Ukraine as it enters its fourth year of defending itself against Russian aggression. According to a survey by NMS agency, 77 percent of respondents favour some form of help. Sixty percent say the government of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) should provide humanitarian aid, while 53 percent back diplomatic support. Around a quarter support financial or military assistance, and 15 percent oppose any help. Attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees living in Czechia remain slightly negative. Thirty-seven percent see them as a threat, a quarter as a benefit, and one-third as neither. Analyst Tereza Friedrichová says concerns relate not only to crime, but also to respect for social norms and laws.

Speaking at Prague Castle on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Petr Pavel thanked long-term supporters of the war-torn country and praised the many people in Czechia who help those in need. Addressing representatives of humanitarian groups and volunteers, he said solidarity and compassion remain strong values in society. Pavel warned against what he described as growing indifference or even hostility toward vulnerable people. Such attitudes, he said, are fuelled by fears over social status, jobs or personal comfort. Supporters of Ukraine, he argued, should speak out more forcefully, so that “the good in society” does not appear to be in retreat.