German foreign minister visits Ukraine border region

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited a Ukrainian border region on Tuesday at the end of a two-day visit to the country.

Baerbock was shown a command post at the three-way border between Ukraine, Russia and Belarus by the head of the National Border Service, Lieutenant General Serhiy Deyneko.

A central task of the border guards is to detect attack drones as soon as possible and shoot them down if they cross the border.

Dejneko showed Baerbock numerous types of drones and the remains of a downed Iranian-designed Shahed drone.

Call for more international support

Earlier, Baerbock called on international partners to provide more support for Ukraine, as she visited a memorial to the victims of Russian atrocities in the village of Yahidne, north-east of the capital Kiev.

Baerbock said the memorial reminds people "what Russian occupation means: inhumanity, terror. Things that no one in this world would want to experience."

"We, as political leaders in Europe, should also have the strength internationally to continue to give Ukraine financial and humanitarian support," she said.

During the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops occupied Yahidne. The Russians held more than 350 residents captive from March 3-31 in the basement of the village school, which was the occupiers' headquarters at the time.

The youngest hostage was six weeks old, the oldest 93 years old. A total of 77 children and young people were held, including five babies. Ten elderly people died in captivity.

According to the public prosecutor, seven people were shot by the Russian occupiers.

Baerbock's visit the area was briefly disrupted by an air raid warning in the historic centre of the city of Chernihiv. At the time she was being shown a UN project in the city. She had already seen a youth centre destroyed during a rocket attack at the beginning of the invasion in February 2022.

On Monday, Baerbock met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and pledged an additional €200 million ($218 million) to support Ukrainians during their third winter of war.