German Foreign Minister Visits Kharkiv on Ukraine's Flag Day

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visited Kharkiv on Sunday as part of his trip to Ukraine, which coincided with the country's Flag Day. The news agency DPA reported this, as cited by the outlet "European Pravda".

During the visit, Wadephul met with university students, inspected a power plant that has been struck by Russian missiles six times, and visited a metro depot that was severely damaged back in 2022. As part of Flag Day observances, he also took part in a ceremony near one of Europe's tallest flagpoles.

Wadephul paid tribute to what he described as the "extraordinary will to resist" shown by Kharkiv residents, saying the city embodies a spirit of resistance to Russian violence and of preserving life — a spirit he said should be carried over to Europe.

First trip near the front line

This marked the first time during Wadephul's fourth visit to Ukraine that he traveled close to the front line. During a meeting in Kyiv on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelensky specifically thanked the minister for his planned trip to Ukrainian regions where the situation remains difficult due to ongoing Russian shelling.

According to the agency, the minister departed for Kharkiv on Saturday afternoon following political talks in the capital and spent the night in Poltava.

Wadephul's predecessor, Annalena Baerbock, visited Kharkiv in 2023. The following year she was forced to cut short a visit to the Mykolaiv region after her convoy was pursued by a drone.