Foreign Minister in Ukraine: Wadephul Praises Kharkiv's Will to Resist
The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv lies just around 30 kilometres from the front line and is frequently subjected to Russian shelling. Nevertheless, Foreign Minister Wadephul visited the city of over a million inhabitants, where he paid tribute to the residents' determination to resist.
Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visited the city of Kharkiv, home to more than a million people and located approximately 30 kilometres from the front line, during his trip to Ukraine. There he spoke with students at the university, inspected a power plant that has already been attacked six times by Russia, and toured a railway depot destroyed in 2022. On "State Flag Day," the CDU politician also took part in a ceremony at one of Europe's tallest flagpoles, from which the blue-and-yellow flag flies at a height of 101 metres.
Wadephul praised the "extraordinary will to resist" shown by the city's inhabitants. There is "a spirit of resisting Russian violence and keeping life going," he said, adding that this spirit should be taken back to Europe.
Kharkiv is regularly attacked with Russian rockets and drones. Air raid alarms sounded several times even during Wadephul's visit. Nevertheless, the city's population of approximately 1.4 million has barely changed since 2022. Despite the constant danger, the industrial city is the first port of call for many internally displaced persons.
First Visit Close to the Front
During his fourth trip to Ukraine, this was Wadephul's first visit to an area close to the front. President Volodymyr Zelensky had explicitly thanked him at a meeting in Kyiv on Saturday "for his upcoming trip to regions of Ukraine where the situation is difficult due to Russian shelling."
Wadephul's exact destination had not been made public for security reasons until he was already on his way back to Kyiv. The minister had set off on Saturday afternoon following his political talks in the capital and had stopped overnight in Poltava along the way. The journey to Kharkiv takes around six hours by car in total.
Visits by senior foreign politicians to areas close to the front are rare, though Wadephul's predecessor Annalena Baerbock also visited Kharkiv in 2023. The following year, she was forced to cut short another visit to a frontline area after a drone was spotted.
Air Raid Alert at Veterans' Meeting in Kyiv
In Kyiv on Saturday, Wadephul pledged an additional 50 million euros in humanitarian aid to Ukraine and raised hopes of further funds for air defence. He said he would continue to push alliance partners to supply Patriot air defence missiles, and did not rule out a further contribution from the Bundeswehr.
During his visit to the Ukrainian capital, the Foreign Minister was given a stark reminder of how vital air defence is in the face of increasingly frequent Russian attacks with ballistic missiles. While he was attending a veterans' meeting alongside Zelensky, a suburb of Kyiv just 30 kilometres away was struck by three rockets. Two people were killed and numerous others were injured. Air raid sirens also went off on mobile phones during the veterans' meeting.
