Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul condemned Russia‘s escalating drone and missile assault on Ukraine on Saturday, as he arrived in Kyiv to demonstrate Berlin’s continued support.

“Ukraine is celebrating its 35th Independence Day these days. At the same time, Putin’s rockets and drones are attacking the country more relentlessly than ever before,” he said on X. “The Russian attacks are deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure such as power and heating supply,” he wrote, adding Germany was ‘working to support Ukraine in its winter preparations’. 

Ukraine will mark the 35th anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union on August 24. This will be its fifth straight Independence Day under Russia’s invasion, which began in February 2022.

Wadephul’s visit to Ukraine comes amid increasing Russian air assaults and what he called ‘indiscriminate murder of civilians’. On Saturday morning, drone and missile attacks killed at least two people in Kyiv and the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.

Earlier this week, at least 16 people were killed in Russian missile strikes on Kyiv. On Friday, an attack on a shopping centre in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown killed at least 15 people and injured more than 100.

Ukraine has been increasingly targeting Russian oil and gas production and processing sites in recent months.

Overnight, Ukrainian drones hit an industrial facility as well as a warehouse owned by popular online retailer Ozon in Russia’s southwest Samara region.

In ⁠a post on Telegram, Samara Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said that several people had been wounded in the strikes.

He did not name the ​industrial facility struck, but Ukraine’s military said it had struck the region’s Novokuibyshevsk refinery, ​causing a fire.

Russian regional officials said six civilians were killed in the overnight strikes.

While Kyiv has stepped up its strikes on Russia, it is running short of air defence units, leading to more casualties at home.

The German foreign minister, after reaching Kyiv via a special train, told reporters that July and August had been the deadliest months for Ukrainian civilians in more than four years.

“Never before has Russia fired more missiles at its neighbouring country,” Wadephul said. “We see the suffering, we see how this country has struggled, and we will continue to support this country.”

“We stand on Ukraine’s side,” he added. “It will win this military confrontation.”

Wadephul went on to pledge further support for Ukraine, which is set to face another winter with more attacks expected on its energy infrastructure.

“No country invests as much in military and financial support for Ukraine as Germany,” Wadephul said, on his fourth visit to the war-torn nation in 16 months. He expressed hope that Russia could be brought to the negotiating table even as diplomatic efforts have stalled in recent months.

DW