Germany has decided to increase the supply of weapons to Ukraine in the war and is sending it an additional 2.700 anti-aircraft missiles, which are Soviet-made.
Berlin has approved additional support for Ukraine, a government source told AFP, referring to the Strela missiles, which come from the stockpiles of the former communist East Germany's military.
Those supplies obtained from the Soviet Union were included in the supplies of the German Bundeswehr army after German reunification in 1990, so they are more than 30 years old.
In addition, the German Ministry of Defense recently sent 18.000 additional military helmets to Kyiv, in addition to the 5.000 already sent.
On Saturday, Berlin already approved sending to Ukraine 500 anti-aircraft missiles of the Stinger type, anti-tank rocket launchers and nine howitzers, which have already arrived in Ukraine. Howitzers are also of Soviet production.
The fact that Germany is using Soviet-made weapons to send them to the aid of Ukraine, taking them from the weapons depots of East Germany, has been the subject of controversy in recent weeks.
Berlin's decision to send weapons to Ukraine represents a reversal in Germany's post-war policy, as the country had previously banned the export of lethal weapons to conflict zones due to its history under Nazism.
Berlin also announced that it is significantly increasing its military spending, immediately freeing up 100 billion euros to modernize the army and increasing the defense budget for the coming years to over two percent.
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