Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced another 1 billion euros in military aid and 350 million euros for energy repairs in Kyiv as Russian drones struck the capital.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz used a visit to Kyiv on 4 October to announce a further 1 billion euros, about 1.1 billion dollars, in military aid and 350 million euros for repairs in Ukraine's energy sector, Reuters reported.
Air-raid sirens and explosions sounded repeatedly in the capital while Merz and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited a memorial to soldiers killed in the war and the Academy of Sciences, where at least two people died in a drone strike the previous week, Reuters said.
German officials told Reuters that executives traveling with Merz signed 14 agreements with the Ukrainian government and businesses worth roughly 6.6 billion euros. Named deals included IRIS-T air-defence missiles from Diehl Defence, radar equipment from Hensoldt and jet drone interceptors from Quantum Systems. Merz said Germany was acting for Europe's security and would not be intimidated.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that a Russian strike hit the Northern Bridge across the Dnipro, injuring two people and damaging a hot-water system, Reuters reported. Zelenskiy said Ukraine would retaliate and that US envoy Steve Witkoff had urged a return to trilateral talks. Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that Moscow would continue strikes it described as retaliatory and called accusations of hybrid warfare baseless, Reuters reported.
The announcements add to German support as Russia has increased jet-powered drone attacks on Ukrainian cities. Reuters did not report a signed final text for a broader drone, missile and software production deal that Zelenskiy has said the two sides were close to completing.