Ukraine updates: Kyiv can now hit Russia with German weapons

In an exclusive interview, FDP parliamentarian Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the Bundestag Defense Committee, told DW that she was thankful to Chancellor Olaf Scholz for giving Kyiv permission to use German weapons to attack military targets within Russia.

Although she wished the move had “happened far earlier,” Strack-Zimmermann called the decision, “good news for Ukraine.”

Strack-Zimmermann said  Russian threats immediately leveled in response to the announcement were a calculated move by the Kremlin designed to paralyze Germany’s decision making.

“We can’t let that happen. Otherwise, Ukraine will lose the war,” she said. 

“We cannot allow Putin to simply march on and assume that he will stop at some point. He won’t,” she said.  

“That’s why it is good that there is now an opportunity to attack legitimate military assets,” she added. 

Amid concern the West might be dragged into the war, DW asked about the consequences of Ukraine shooting down a Russian jet with German arms, for instance. “Then it’s shot down,” she said. “Then that’s one less jet on its way to Ukraine to fire missiles, to kill Ukrainians.”

Though she expressed empathy for those who fear deeper German or European involvement, Strack-Zimmermann said doing nothing simply wasn’t an option.

“If we don’t do anything, the Russian army will keep marching until it reaches the EU’s western border, Poland’s border. Then those troops will be standing at NATO’s border; and we, too, have to protect it.”

Strack-Zimmermann also voiced confidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would keep his word and only target Russian military assets, because, “he has always stuck to the rules.” 

She elaborated by drawing a stark contrast between Ukraine and “Moscow, or Putin, who attacks civilian targets: shops, kindergartens, infrastructure, water, electricity.”

Continuing, she said, “Russia’s war is not limited to military targets, rather it is intended to completely destroy Ukraine. If you look at images from eastern Ukraine you can see it hasn’t left one stone unscathed — and just to give an idea of the sheer scale, eastern Ukraine is the size of Portugal.”