Wadephul close to front line during Ukraine visit
Following political talks in Kyiv, Wadephul heads closer to the front line. During his fourth visit to Ukraine, Germany’s foreign minister travels far to the east of the country for the first time.
Kharkiv (dpa) - During a trip to Ukraine, Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has visited Kharkiv, a city of over a million inhabitants just 30 kilometres or so from the front line with Russia. While in the city, he spoke with students at the university, inspected a power station that has already been attacked by Russian missiles six times and visited an underground train depot that had already been badly damaged in 2022. On State Flag Day, he also took part in a ceremony at one of Europe’s tallest flagpoles, from which the country’s blue and yellow flag is flown at a height of 101 metres.
Kharkiv is regularly attacked by Russian missiles and drones. Air-raid alerts also sounded several times during Wadephul’s visit. Nonetheless, the city’s population size of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants has hardly changed since the invasion in 2022. Despite the constant danger, the industrial city is the first port of call for many Ukrainians displaced by the war.
During his visit, Wadephul paid tribute to the “incredible will to resist” shown by Kharkiv’s inhabitants. He talked of there being a “spirit of resisting the Russian violence and keeping life going” - a spirit that should be taken back to Europe, he said.
