CzechFolks.com

It has been 40 years since Russians occupied Czechoslovakia (last Russian soldier left in June 1991) and started a 20-year long repression. Prague was the main target for this attack since it was a center of political happenings. About 160,000 soldiers entered our country on August 21^st, 1968 with about 6,300 tanks. Approximately 80 people died during the first days of occupation and hundreds were injured. The harm to our nation can be still seen today.

Not only did the Soviet troops cause physical and psychological damage to many Czechs and Slovaks, they also contaminated almost all of the locations in which they operated. As Pavel Baroch stated in his article 1968 Soviet Invasion: Environmental Damage Still Seen: “The Red Army is still present in a way.” Underground water in zones of Red Army operations is still full of heavy metals and other toxics. The most recent places being cleaned are Frenstat pod Radhostem, Hradcany, Kurivody, Lustenice, Milovice - Bozi Dar, and Milovice - Tabor. The cleanup will probably last until 2012 and will cost about 2 billion crowns.

On the other hand, the cost to affected Czechoslovakians can’t be easily measured. Many Czech and Slovak people don’t even want to revisit their memories of occupation. Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, mentioned in his speech that we should not blame the Russian people but the communist regime that killed millions of Czechoslovakians, citizens of other countries, and also Russians.

Other good articles:

http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/weekly-czech-news/in-the-news-25-8-08/

***

Uplynulo jiz 40 let od ruske okupace Ceskoslovenska (posledni rusky vojak odesel v cervnu 1991), ktera zacala 20-tiletou represi. Hlavnim tercem utoku byla Praha, protoze byla centrem politickeho deni. Dne 21. srpna 1968 zhruba 160.000 vojaku vstoupilo na nase uzemi v 6.300 tancich. Okolo 80 lidi zemrelo behem prvnich dni okupace a stovky byly zraneny. Skoda nasi zemi je stale zretelna.

Ruske vojsko zpusobilo fyzicke a psychicke skody mnoha Cechum a Slovakum a take znecistili skoro vsechny oblasti v kterych prebyvali. Pavel Baroch se zminuje ve svem clanku 1968 Soviet Invasion: Environmental Damage Still Seen: “Ruska armada je vice mene stale zde”. Podzemni vody v oblastech operaci ruske armady je plna tezkych kovu a jinych toxickych latek. Mista, ktere se ted cisti jsou Frenstat pod Radhostem, Hradcany, Kurivody, Lustenice, Milovice - Bozi Dar, and Milovice - Tabor. Dekontimace bude pravdepodobne pokracovat do roku 2012 a bude stat okolo 2 miliard korun.

Na druhe strane, je tezke zmerit cenu ruske okupace postizenym Cechum a Slovakum. Mnoho z nich nechteji vzpominat na dobu okupace. Cesky president, Vaclav Klaus, se zminil ve svem proslovu, ze bychom nemeli davat vinu Rusum, ale komunistickemu rezimu ktery zabil mnoho Cechu a Slovaku, obcanu jinych zemi, ale take Rusu.