Russia's Missile Strikes Its Consulate In Kyiv, Germany Sends Air Defense Systems To Ukraine

The impact of Russia's cruise missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Kyiv City State Administration)

JAKARTA - Germany announced plans to send air defense systems to Ukraine in the coming days, shortly after dozens of Russian cruise missiles rained down on Kyiv and a number of other cities, with their consulate building under attack.

A high-rise office building housing the German consulate in Kyiv was hit by a Russian missile attack early Monday, the foreign ministry said, although no official was there, because the consulate had been empty for months since war broke out.

"No work has been carried out on the building for months," a German foreign ministry spokesman said.

The spokesman added that the German government had contacted officials in Kyiv to assess the extent of the damage to the site.

Germany condemned the Russian attacks, which killed a dozen citizens and injured others, which were launched in retaliation for Ukrainian attacks, including on the bridge to Crimea.

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht. (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Secretary of Defense)

Separately, the German Defense Ministry plans to send the air defense systems to Ukraine in the near future, and to send three more next year, without giving an exact time limit.

Germany will deliver the first of four IRIS-T SLM air defense systems to Ukraine in a few days, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said.

"The new missile fires in Kyiv and many other cities show how important it is to quickly supply Ukraine with air defense systems," Lambrecht said in a statement.

"Russian attacks with missiles and drones terrorized the civilian population in particular. That's why we are now providing support especially with air defense weapons," he criticized.

Russia pounded cities across Ukraine during rush hour Monday morning, killing civilians, turning off electricity and heating, in a retaliatory strike after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the explosion on the Russian bridge to Crimea a terrorist attack.