Germany to deliver more anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine

This handout satellite photo released by Planet Labs PBC shows the Kyiv TV tower, next to the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial, standing tall on October 6, 2021, before its reported destruction on March 1st, 2022. – Deadly Russian air strikes hit a residential block in Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv and the main TV tower in the nation’s capital, Kyiv said Tuesday, with Ukraine’s president accusing the Kremlin of a “war crime” as the civilian toll of the invasion mounted. (Photo by Planet Labs PBC / AFP) /

 

FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — Germany will increase its weapons deliveries to Ukraine following the Russian invasion by sending an 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles to the conflict zone, a government source told AFP on Thursday.

The government “approved further support for Ukraine”, involving the delivery of STRELA-type anti-aircraft missiles of Soviet manufacture, which were previously used by the army of communist East Germany, the source said.

Germany’s first arms consignment of 1,000 anti-tank and another 500 anti-aircraft missiles has already been despatched to the front, the government said on Wednesday.

The move came after Germany reversed its long-standing policy of not sending weapons to conflict zones, a position which has its roots in the country’s Nazi-era war guilt.

On Saturday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz recognised that the Russian invasion represented a “turning point in history” that compelled Germany to rethink its priorities.

Police officers pass by wreckage of a building after reported shelling in Kyiv on March 2, 2022. – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on March 2 accused Russia, which has launched an invasion of his country, of seeking to “erase” Ukrainians, their country and their history. (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS / AFP)

At the same time, Germany pledged to invest 100 billion euros ($111 billion) in the build-up of its own armed forces in the face of the Russian threat.

The government on Saturday also approved the delivery of German-made arms to Ukraine from third countries, including 400 anti-tank rocket launchers sent by the Netherlands.

Before the escalation of the conflict, Germany had only pledged to contribute helmets and offered to help build a field hospital in Ukraine.


© Agence France-Presse

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