The offices of the German Consulate in Kyiv, Ukraine were struck by Russian missile strikes in the early hours of Monday morning according to reports from the Foreign Ministry.
“A building in Kyiv, which also houses the German visa office, was damaged by rocket fire this morning. Since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression, these offices have not been used by our embassy. Our colleagues at the Embassy in Kyiv are well,” German officials said according to The Independent.
No officials from the German diplomatic corps were present at the time of the attack, having evacuated the building in the months since the illegal invasion of Ukraine by forces from Russia kicked off the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.
“Russia’s attacks with missiles and drones terrorize the civilian population in particular,” German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht told Reuters on Monday.
“No work has gone on in the building for months,” a foreign ministry spokesman told a briefing according to Reuters.
The spokesman added that authorities in Berlin have been in communication with foreign ministry officials still in Kyiv to assess the extent of damage to the sovereign property of Germany.
The German government issued a condemnation of the Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital that claimed the lives of at least 10 people based on initial reports.
During the same briefing reported by Reuters, a German representative of the Ministry of Defense informed the media that the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces are expected to deliver a new air-defense system to Ukraine imminently with three more scheduled next year.
“The renewed missile fire on Kyiv and the many other cities show how important it is to supply Ukraine with air defense systems quickly,” Lambrecht added.
The Twitter account Ukraine Battle Map (@ukraine_map) posted an image alleged to show the German consulate after the attack.
A Russian Missile damaged the German Consulate in Kyiv 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/qOT0Nd1B35
— Ukraine Battle Map (@ukraine_map) October 10, 2022
Twitter user Smart Ukrainian Cat (@SmartUACat) posted an alleged video of the missile strike.
An attack on a German Consulate building in #Kyiv today. pic.twitter.com/sm6QrAnfc4
— Smart Ukrainian Cat (@SmartUACat) October 10, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that his forces used “precision weapons” to target key energy infrastructure, military command and energy facilities in retaliation for what he called Ukraine’s “terrorist” actions, The Associated Press reported.
At least sixty people were reported injured in the attacks according to the newswire.
