German Foreign Minister flags ‘dramatic’ worsening on Ukraine front

German Foreign Minister Baerbock expresses concern over worsening conditions for Ukrainian forces in Kharkiv during visit to Kyiv.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock voiced concern on May 21 over the worsening battlefield conditions for Ukrainian forces on the eastern front, during an unannounced visit to Kyiv.

The visit from Ms. Baerbock, who urged the West to supply Ukraine with more air defences, came after more than two dozen Russian drones targeted Ukraine overnight, in an attack that left several wounded in the eastern Kharkiv region.

"The situation in Ukraine has once more dramatically deteriorated with the massive Russian aerial attacks on civilian infrastructure and the brutal Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region," Ms. Baerbock said when she arrived for her eighth visit to the country since Russia invaded in February 2022.

To protect itself from the "rain of Russian drones and missiles", Ukraine "urgently needs a boosted air defence", she said.

"Our support is based on the deep conviction that Ukraine will win this war," Ms. Baerbock said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned last week that the Russian ground offensive launched this month in the Kharkiv region may only be a "first wave" and that Russian troops could be aiming for the city of Kharkiv — the second largest in Ukraine.

The Russian official appointed by Moscow as governor of the Kharkiv region said on Tuesday that his country's forces were now in control of nearly half of Vovchansk.