German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced an additional €1 billion in military aid for Ukraine during his visit to Kyiv on Oct 4, as Russian drone attacks struck the Ukrainian capital. Merz said Germany would not be pressured into reducing its support for Ukraine and described Berlin as the country’s strongest backer.

Air-raid sirens and explosions were heard across Kyiv during Merz’s visit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The two leaders visited a memorial for soldiers killed in the four-year-old war and the National Academy of Sciences, where at least two people died in a drone strike last week.

Russia has intensified drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in recent weeks. The strikes have targeted telecommunications, electricity and transport infrastructure and military facilities. Merz said Moscow is trying to weaken the morale of Ukrainians and announced another €350 million for repairs to Ukraine’s energy sector.

“We do this not only to protect Ukraine’s territorial integrity; we do it deeply in our own interest, for it is a matter of Europe’s security,” Merz said, pointing to Russian cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns targeting Europe’s democratic order.

“This demonstrates that we will not be intimidated,” he said.

Russia has rejected accusations of hybrid warfare, calling them baseless and part of what it describes as anti-Russian hysteria. During Merz’s visit, German companies also signed 16 agreements with Ukraine worth around €6.5 billion, according to officials.

The agreements include a deal between Ukraine and Germany’s Diehl Defence for IRIS-T air defence missiles. Ukraine also signed agreements with Hensoldt for radar equipment and Quantum Systems for jet drone interceptors. Zelensky said the partnership would benefit both countries through German support and Ukrainian expertise.

“What is important in this visit is that not only Germany is helping Ukraine, but Ukraine is sharing its knowledge, experience as well as orders,” Zelensky said. “These are jobs for Germany.”

Zelensky also praised Quantum Systems’ new jet drone interceptor, called “SPYS”, saying it had shown promising results. He said Ukraine and Germany were close to completing a wider defence agreement covering the production of drones, missiles and related software.

Russia has used dozens of high-speed, jet-powered attack drones against civilian and military infrastructure since the summer. Ukraine has struggled to intercept them due to their higher speed compared with earlier propeller-driven drones.

A Russian strike on October 4, damaged the Northern Bridge over the Dnipro River, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. The blast injured two people and damaged a hot-water supply system. Zelensky said Russia had increased attacks on infrastructure after battlefield setbacks and vowed that Ukraine would retaliate.

“If our bridges collapse, we will manage to get out of this situation, but his people will feel it too... This is maximum escalation of this war,” Zelensky told reporters.

Zelensky said Russia had targeted Kyiv’s bridges since last week to disrupt connections between the capital’s two sides and logistics routes linking central and eastern Ukraine. He also said the US peace envoy Steve Witkoff had urged him to resume trilateral talks. Ukraine is ready to meet in October and wants Russia to participate, while calling for greater Western pressure on Moscow.

During his visit to the damaged Academy of Sciences, Merz appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war.

“We are ready for talks, we are ready to discuss bringing this war to an end, but these barbaric attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine must stop,” the German leader said.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Oct 3 that Moscow would continue systematic strikes on targets in Ukraine, describing them as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russia. It also warned foreign nationals and diplomatic staff against travelling to Ukraine.