Visit of the Federal President to Ukraine: Steinmeier flees to an air raid shelter

Federal President Steinmeier is in Ukraine to announce further support. During his visit to the north of the country, Steinmeier had to flee to a bunker because of a missile alarm.

A few hours after the arrival of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a missile alarm was sounded in Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine. In addition to the capital, the east of the country was particularly affected, it was said at first, but the warning was later extended to other parts of the country.

At that point, Steinmeier had already traveled on to northern Ukraine, to the border area with Belarus and Russia. He wanted to get an idea of ​​the region that was occupied by Russian troops at the beginning of the war of aggression, the Federal President said in Kyiv in the morning.

Worry about the onset of winter

The city of Koryukivka, 200 kilometers north-east of Kyiv, in particular has to contend with destroyed infrastructure and supply bottlenecks before the onset of winter. Steinmeier wants to hand over winter aid for the municipal energy infrastructure there and initiate a town twinning.

“Here, in addition to state aid, we are also trying to build bridges between municipalities and cities in Germany and those here in the Ukraine,” emphasized Steinmeier. One will try to build such a bridge with a German community using Korjukivka as an example.

Arriving in Koryukivka, Steinmeier first met the city’s mayor, Ratan Akhmetov, with whom he had been in contact since his visit a year ago. Steinmeier assured that he was happy to see him again. “I would have wished even more if we could meet again under different circumstances.”

While the Federal President was still speaking, an air raid alarm was sounded in Koryukivka and Steinmeier had to flee to safety.

Longer stay in the air raid shelter

During his longer stay in the air-raid shelter, the Federal President spoke to the mayor and other representatives of the city of Koryukivka, among others.

“We are a border town, Russia is only 30 kilometers away from us,” Akhmetov said in an interview before the meeting. “As far as I know, it is the first time in eight months of this war that someone of such high rank, one of our best friends Germany, the President of this country, has come so close to the front lines. To the line along which we are fighting the aggressor Life.” For him, this is primarily a sign of respect. “A symbol that the Federal President and the German people believe in us. It is a sign that we are not alone.”

A meeting with the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is planned for today in Kyiv. Together, the two heads of state want to take over the patronage of the German-Ukrainian town twinning network.