German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had to cut short her tour of a waterworks facility in southern Ukraine on February 25 when a Russian spy drone was sighte briefly following the minister’s armoured motorcade before turning around. As a result, the German Foreign Ministry decided to evacuate the area immediately for security reasons.
Such flights by Russian reconnaissance drones are typically accompanied by a direct Russian air strike. An air-raid warning was issued in Mykolaiv Oblast, and residents were urged to seek refuge in the nearest shelter.
The minister and her delegation left the motorcade at high speed, claiming that the “safest option” was to keep moving.
The drone warning came as Baerbock was about to visit a water treatment plant built with German assistance near the front line.
“The visit to the water station had to be cancelled prematurely for security reasons,” the German Foreign Ministry claimed.
The night before, Baerbock was in Odesa, and the minister had to spend about 15 minutes in the basement of a hotel before the all-clear was given.
During her visit to Mykolaiv, Baerbock announced that her country would provide an additional 100 million euros ($108 million) in humanitarian aid to Ukraine to support the water supply, hospitals, and housing.
Photo: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, visit a Ukraine-Moldova border crossing point in the Odesa region on February 24.
Sources: yahoo!news;