German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv on Sunday to demonstrate support as Russia escalated strikes on Ukrainian cities. Moscow has intensified aerial warfare, using difficult‑to‑intercept ballistic missiles and jet‑powered drones to target cities across Ukraine, while Kyiv has responded with strikes against Russian commercial interests and oil infrastructure.
Merz said the trip, his second as chancellor, was intended to underscore Germany’s ongoing commitment to Ukraine. “If Russia is not stopped, its war machine will sooner or later turn against us,” he warned. He told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “You can continue to count on our help.”
Merz described the partnership between the nations as “not a one‑way street,” highlighting joint efforts by German and Ukrainian firms to build mutually beneficial technologies that make both countries safer and stronger. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said discussions would focus on strengthening Ukraine’s defense, resilience and shared European security.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that it would continue with “mass retaliatory strikes” against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, urging foreign citizens and diplomats to leave the country. A drone struck Kyiv’s Northern Bridge over the Dnipro River on Sunday morning, exploding near crossing traffic with no casualties reported. The attack followed earlier strikes that closed three of Kyiv’s six Dnipro River road bridges, gridlocking traffic. Russia has also targeted apartment buildings, supermarkets, petrol stations and data facilities. More than four and a half years after the invasion, no clear peace settlement appears imminent, and clashes along the roughly 1,250‑kilometre front line remain largely stagnant.
