Yizhak (hedgehog) — the most common word used to illustrate the letter “ Ї” in the Ukrainian alphabet. However, during wartime, the analogies associated with this word have changed. Now, instead of a small spiky mammal, the image that comes to mind is a massive defensive structure — the Czech hedgehog. It consists of several welded steel pieces forming a hexagon. 

When many Ukrainians first saw the anti-tank hedgehogs on February 24, 2022, they felt a chill down their spine. These structures have remained with them for a long time — on their way to the office or university, they see daily reminders of the turbulent times.

During the winter of 2022, Ukrainians were desperately preparing to defend their hometowns. 

In Kyiv, homeless people collected bottles for Molotov cocktails; in Zaporizhzhia, citizens dug trenches; and from Mykolaiv to Zhytomyr, carpenters and locksmiths were making Czech hedgehog. As civilians were being evacuated en masse to the west, brave men and women volunteered for the territorial defence, and from the ground of Ukrainian cities, hundreds of Czech hedgehog seemed to have sprouted.

For those unfamiliar with warfare, it is hard to imagine how such a simple thing can stop a menacing tank marked with the letter “z.” However, these Czech hedgehog are capable not only of slowing down tanks but also disabling them entirely.

These structures are called Czech hedgehogs because they first appeared in 1938 on the border between Czechoslovakia and Germany. During World War II, Colonel Mykhailo Horikker, the head of the Kyiv Tank Academy, improved the design of hedgehogs, making them almost unbreakable.

For the capital and many other cities of Ukraine, the threat of occupation has passed, but the Czech hedgehogs are still in their places like ominous and cold guardians. 

Heavy thoughts come to mind when you notice these hedgehogs at another checkpoint, driving the familiar road once again. Even after the full-scale war comes to an end, Ukrainians will undoubtedly remember the image of this defensive structure. 

Perhaps one day, the Czech hedgehog will remain forever only in the frames of military chronicles.

At the same time, this eerie hexagon will always remind Ukrainians of how, in a challenging moment, they all joined their efforts to protect the Ukrainian land.