German FM visits Kyiv as Russia escalates attacks on Ukraine's Independence Day

Johann Wadephul arrived in Kyiv by special train on Saturday to find the city under attack. As Ukraine's foreign minister sat down with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss air defense and winter preparations, Russian missiles struck the nearby suburb of Boryspil. At least two people died in that strike alone. It was a stark reminder of the timing: Ukraine was three days away from marking 35 years of independence from the Soviet Union, and Russia was answering the occasion with what Wadephul would later call its most relentless bombardment in over four years.

The German foreign minister had traveled to Kyiv to demonstrate Berlin's commitment to Ukraine as the country braced for another winter of conflict. In a post on social media, Wadephul laid out what he was witnessing: "Putin's rockets and drones are attacking the country more relentlessly than ever before." He noted that Russia was deliberately targeting the infrastructure Ukrainians depend on—power plants, heating systems, the utilities that keep people alive when temperatures drop. Germany, he said, was working to help Ukraine prepare for the months ahead.

The violence surrounding Wadephul's visit underscored the scale of what Ukraine faces. On Saturday morning alone, drone and missile attacks killed at least two more people in Kyiv and in Zaporizhzhia to the south. The day before, a Russian strike on a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih had killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 100. These were not military targets. They were places where civilians lived and shopped and moved through ordinary life. Wadephul, speaking alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga, called it what he saw: "brutal war of aggression" and deliberate terrorism of the civilian population.

When Wadephul met with Zelenskyy, the conversation centered on two urgent needs. The first was air defense. Ukraine has been running short of the systems it needs to intercept incoming missiles and drones, which means more strikes get through, more civilians die. The second was the approaching winter. Russia has made energy infrastructure a deliberate target, and Ukraine knows that without adequate power and heating, the human toll will climb. Zelenskyy expressed gratitude for Germany's help on both fronts and mentioned ongoing work on what he called the Drone Deal format, an agreement the two countries hoped to sign soon.

Wadephul was making his fourth visit to Ukraine in 16 months, and he came with a claim that carried weight in European politics: Germany, he said, invests more military and financial support in Ukraine than any other country. He pledged more assistance ahead, even as diplomatic hopes flickered in the background. Despite the escalation, despite the bodies and the rubble, Wadephul expressed belief that Russia could eventually be brought to a negotiating table. No one could say when that might happen, or under what circumstances. For now, the war was only intensifying.

While Wadephul was in Kyiv, Ukraine was striking back. Overnight, Ukrainian drones hit an industrial facility and a warehouse belonging to the Russian online retailer Ozon in the Samara region. Ukraine's military said it had struck the Novokuibyshevsk refinery, setting it on fire. Other drone strikes across Russia killed at least six civilians, according to regional officials. The war, in other words, was not one-directional. But the asymmetry was clear: Russia had more missiles, more drones, more capacity to rain destruction on cities. Ukraine had courage and determination, but it was running out of the air defense systems that might protect its people. As Independence Day approached, that gap was widening.