The head of German diplomacy Annalena Baerbock had gone a few hours earlier to this city in the northeast of the country.
Russian shelling hit Kharkiv on Tuesday evening, hours after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made a surprise visit to the northeastern Ukrainian city with her Ukrainian counterpart, who urged Germany to provide heavy armor.
“The longer such a decision is delayed, the more casualties there will be, the more civilians will die,” said Ukrainian Minister Dmytro Kouleba.
An AFP journalist later heard several explosions in the city, relatively spared in recent times by Russian strikes. “Stay in the shelters. The occupants are bombing again!” Warned the regional governor on Telegram messaging. Oleg Synegubov.
No human or material assessment yet communicated
It was impossible to immediately determine whether these strikes had caused damage and casualties.
Earlier Tuesday, Annalena Baerbock had come to this city near the Russian border and very tested by the war. Invited by her counterpart Dmytro Kouleba, she assured that Ukraine could count on the “solidarity” and “support” of Germany.
The minister said she had provided “a new package” of aid including 20 million euros for mine clearance and as much to develop the Starlink internet access network. She also announced new deliveries of generators for the Ukrainian energy infrastructure systematically bombed by Russia.
But Ukraine is above all demanding the delivery of Western combat tanks, and Berlin has still not responded favorably to its request to deliver “Leopard 2” armored vehicles, heavy equipment with recognized technology.
