THE Czech Republic has become the first Nato country to provide tanks to Ukraine as thousands started to flee the eastern Donbass region yesterday. 

Prague sent the shipment of T-72 and other armoured infantry vehicles in response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plea for increased military hardware from the alliance. 

The tanks were provided as a gift, funded by the Czech Republic and wealthy donors as Russian artillery continued to pound the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Kharkiv.