Baerbock visited one of largest TPPs of Ukraine, which was destroyed by Russian Federation
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Annalena Baerbock, together with the Minister of Energy of Ukraine, Herman Halushchenko, visited one of the largest power plants of Ukraine, which was destroyed by the Russian Federation with massive missile strikes. After what she saw, the German politician emphasized the importance of strengthening Ukraine’s air defense.
DW writes about this, Censor.NET informs.
Energy Minister Halushchenko said that the aggressor country hit the station when Ukraine did not have enough anti-aircraft missiles. According to him, only 6 of the 11 targets were destroyed.
"We've lost more than 8 gigawatts in the system... We have peak hour restrictions during weekdays. We can balance the system, but it's very difficult... We're preparing for next winter, that's what we have to do." - said the head of the Ministry of Energy.
In her turn, Baerbock noted that Ukraine lacks air defense capabilities to protect critical infrastructure. She added that Germany is calling on international partners around the world to provide Kyiv with more air defense equipment.
"We saw that air defense helped, but Ukraine does not have enough air defense assets to protect critical infrastructure. Therefore, we appeal to international partners around the world that more air defense assets are needed to protect not only large cities, but also infrastructure. We see that even on warm spring days electricity consumption has to be reduced because all TPPs have been damaged by targeted attacks in recent months," said the head of the German Foreign Ministry.
In addition, she recalled her visit to Kharkiv, which took place in January 2023. According to Baerbock, she then saw that "people were freezing to death because the heat supply was cut off."
"One can only imagine what will happen if it is not possible to start these thermal power plants before winter, what it will mean for consumers of electricity and heat," Baerbock said.
It will be reminded, that on Tuesday, May 21, the head of the German Foreign Ministry visited Ukraine.
Germany's initiative to strengthen the air defense of Ukraine
As you know, in April 2024, Germany launched a program for Ukraine called "Immediate Action Air Defense" (IAAD). Within it, Berlin called on the allies to form a new coalition to supply Kyiv with Patriot, Iris-T, Skynex air defense systems, and Gepard anti-aircraft systems.
On Monday, May 20, following the results of the meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine (in the Ramstein format), it became known that 7 countries will join this German initiative. The German Ministry of Defense reported that Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Canada would help financially. The USA, Great Britain, France, Spain, Romania, Belgium, and Lithuania are ready to transfer the necessary equipment and missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine to strengthen the air defense of Ukraine. In addition, Latvia will join the initiative.
