Germany’s Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Saturday, where she vowed to provide more military aid in the coming days, including the long-promised Iris-T SLM ground-based air defense system.
“In a few days, we will deliver the very modern Iris-T air defense system,” she announced following a meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Aleksey Reznikov in the Black Sea port city of Odessa.
Berlin initially promised back in June to send Kiev at least one Iris-T unit for free. Ukraine reportedly wants to obtain at least a dozen and has offered to purchase the rest directly from the manufacturer, even though Germany’s own armed forces have yet to receive these systems themselves.
Germany alone sent at least $711 million worth of arms to Ukraine, including multiple deliveries of self-propelled Gepard anti-aircraft guns and PzH 2000 howitzers, since the start of the conflict in late February.