German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to equip Ukraine with Marder infantry combat vehicles, which Kyiv has long requested in its struggle against Russia’s incursion.
Kyiv: Russian airstrikes targeted Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine late Tuesday, according to the regional governor, just hours after the German foreign minister paid a surprise visit to her Ukrainian colleague.
On her secret visit, Annalena Baerbock pledged further German backing for Kyiv, but Ukraine’s senior diplomat, Dmytro Kuleba, warned Berlin’s unwillingness to supply his nation combat tanks was costing lives.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to equip Ukraine with Marder infantry combat vehicles, which Kyiv has long requested in its struggle against Russia’s incursion. However, Berlin has so far refused to provide Ukraine with more sophisticated Leopard combat tanks. Kuleba, who was accompanying Baerbock on her visit to Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, lobbied Germany once again to send them.
He claimed that the longer it takes to make a choice, the more people will die.
“Ukraine will undoubtedly obtain German Leopard tanks. I believe the German administration realises, deep down, that this decision will be taken and the tanks will be delivered to Ukraine.”
During the conflict, Kharkiv has been heavily bombarded, although the frontline has shifted east since a Ukrainian counter-offensive last year reclaimed land from Russian forces.
“Stay in one of the shelters. The occupiers are bombing once more! “On Telegram, regional governor Oleg Synegubov issued a warning. Several explosions were heard in the city, according to an AFP correspondent.
Baerbock, who became the highest-ranking Western official to visit Kharkiv on Tuesday, offered further German assistance for Kyiv.
“People should know they can count on our sympathy and assistance in all areas of Ukraine, from Kharkiv to Kherson to Kyiv,” she stated.
She added that Germany will maintain delivering weaponry “that Ukraine needs in order to free its civilians who are currently suffering under the fear of Russian domination”.
Baerbock sent a “additional assistance package” comprising power generators, 20 million euros ($21 million) for demining, and 20 million euros as financial assistance for the Starlink project, which will provide internet connectivity to the populace.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he has revoked the citizenship of Viktor Medvedchuk, previously viewed as Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s main friend in Kyiv but now accused of high treason.
Medvedchuk, a former Ukrainian legislator who was turned over to Russia in a prisoner swap in September, and three others were deprived of their citizenship, Zelensky stated in his daily speech.
“I have decided to suspend the citizenship of four people,” Zelensky said, citing information supplied by Ukraine’s security and state migration services and the constitution.
After a visit by a German minister, Russia strikes Kharkiv, Ukraine.
