The first thing that strikes you is the calm that he exudes. Christian Freuding, 51, speaks slowly, reflected, worried. In January he was in Kyiv. And now again in February, with the new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD). Long train journeys from Poland to the war zone.
When the war began on February 24, 2022, the brigadier general was still in charge of Panzer Lehrbrigade 9, a few weeks later he was in the Bendler Block. Since then he has been head of the Ukraine situation center in the Federal Ministry of Defense – and now has to help coordinate tank deliveries on a historic scale.
Initially, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) allowed the delivery of Leopard-2-Battle tanks, now there is also permission for up to 178 old ones Leopard-1-Battle tanks from industrial stocks. But the actual number depends on how many can be repaired. Freuding is concerned with many questions, such as how weapons and tanks can get safely to Ukraine or how they can be serviced in neighboring countries. Hundreds of Ukrainians are to be trained on tanks in Germany. Speed is the order of the day. When will the device arrive? Freuding hears this question again and again in Kyiv. At the same time, the danger of escalation with Moscow must not be lost sight of, especially if the Bundeswehr is giving up a lot of its own stocks.
Freuding is one of the most experienced military men in Germany, having served in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Afghanistan. But such a big war in the middle of Europe was almost nobody’s guess. Freuding is looking for a solution, and he brings with him the politeness and diplomacy necessary for negotiations with NATO partners and Ukraine. In 1999 he received his doctorate from the Bundeswehr University in Hamburg on the subject of “Germany in world politics. The Federal Republic of Germany as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in the years 1977/78, 1987/88 and 1995/96”.
In 2013 he dealt with his role as a Catholic Christian and soldier in the speech format “Bürgerkanzel St. Nicolai” in Lüneburg, he said: “My faith helps me to see those who stand opposite me as God’s creatures, even in battle .” Participating in a just order is what guides him today: “You also serve the service of a soldier, my service as a soldier and a Christian.”
What Freuding sees in Ukraine: The mood is changing
He now has to implement logistically what was politically decided. Ukraine fears that Russia could intensify the war significantly, he says. He was told in Kyiv that the change in the Russian narrative, from special military operations to the Great Patriotic War, is being viewed with great concern, and that a Russian general mobilization is not being ruled out either.
He sees the general challenge in the fact that the systems from Soviet production are slowly running out of ammunition and there is no replenishment. That is why Ukraine is so urgently demanding Western systems. “But then they have to be sustainable, so with enough supplies of ammunition and maintenance abroad.”
During the most recent visits he was able to observe that the Ukrainians are recruiting more reservists. “You see young men with their hair cut short and you think, are they 18 already? That makes you think.” The mood changes. When he was there in October, Kharkiv had just been liberated, and he experienced a completely different atmosphere there. “I haven’t felt that anymore. But there is a great determination, at the same time an incredibly great exhaustion and sadness.”