Battle for Czechoslovak Radio
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Soviet victory
- Red Army ceased the building of the radio and its activity.
| Battle for Czechoslovak Radio | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Czechoslovakia |
 Soviet Union | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 500 people | Infantry and 6 tanks | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 17 killed[1][2] | 3 tanks destroyed | ||||||
The Battle for Czechoslovak Radio was a clash between Czechoslovak citizens defending Czechoslovak Radio and soldiers of the Soviet Army during the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. 17 unarmed Czechoslovak citizens were killed defending the Czechoslovak Radio on Vinohradská Street in Prague from occupation troops of the Soviet Army. When the Soviet troops tried to break into the radio building, its defenders threw stones and broke through the external diesel fuel tanks of the tanks with pickaxes, which they set fire to, managing to destroy several tanks.[3] The encounter became a symbol of the resistance of the people of Prague against Warsaw Pact forces during the invasion of Czechoslovakia.[4]
On January 5, 1968, Alexander Dubček became the first secretary of the Central Committee of the KSČ. It marked the beginning of the so-called Prague Spring. This process began to worry other Eastern Bloc countries, including the USSR. The leadership of the Soviet Union initially attempted to stop or limit the changes in the Czechoslovakia through a series of warnings. After a series of unsuccessful negotiations on the night of August 20 to August 21, 1968, the troops of the five Warsaw Pact states launched an invasion of Czechoslovakia. One of the first targets was Czechoslovak radio, which broadcast uncensored information about the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops and called for Passive resistance to the occupiers. Vladimír Fišer, Eva Kopecká, Věra Šťovíčková, Jiří Dienstbier, Ondřej Neff and others spoke to the audience from the radio. The fighting began at 5 AM.[4]