Former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany tells what made him cry on the first day of the war

Former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk has admitted that he cried on the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion. He said this in an interview with Paul Ronzheimer, deputy editor in chief of the German edition of Bild.

Melnyk pointed out that German Finance Minister Christian Lindner had brought him to tears that day.

According to the diplomat, on the first day of the war, he had asked the German minister for immediate deliveries of anti-tank weapons to stop Russian military columns that were tearing towards Kiev, as well as MANPADS to shoot down Russian helicopters. But Lindner said organising the supplies would take time, which Kiev did not have, as "the Russians will take over power in Ukraine".

All in all, the atmosphere was overcast and dark. By the evening that day, that Thursday, became even more dramatic and hopeless for me. And that's when I really cried," Melnyk said.

The ambassador noted that he had similar conversations with other German politicians. And their response was roughly the same.

Then I decided to "shout in despair" into the public space, making loud statements in the media about Berlin's unwillingness to support Kiev," he pointed out.

Very soon many thousands of rallies swept across Germany, the participants of which demanded that the authorities urgently help Ukraine.

We will remind, Andriy Melnyk was the Ambassador of Ukraine in Germany from 2014 to 2022. After that, he was appointed deputy foreign minister of Ukraine and then sent as ambassador to Brazil.