Germany mocked over plan to send 5,000 helmets to Ukraine instead of weapons
- Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht said the planned delivery would send a ‘very clear signal’ that Germany stands by Ukraine amid rising tensions with Russia
- Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said the helmet offer had left him ‘speechless’. ‘What will Germany send next? Pillows?’ he said in Bild newspaper
Germany, which has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine in the face of a possible Russian invasion, offered on Wednesday to send 5,000 helmets instead, a move slammed as an “absolute joke” by the mayor of Kyiv.
Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht said the planned delivery would send a “very clear signal” that Germany stands by Ukraine amid rising tensions with Russia.
But Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said the helmet offer had left him “speechless”.
“Five thousand helmets are an absolute joke,” he told the Bild daily newspaper. “What will Germany send next? Pillows?”
The move was also slammed in Germany, with a meme circulating on social media using an image from a 2019 campaign encouraging young people to wear cycling helmets, with the slogan: “Looks like s***. But saves my life.”
With tens of thousands of Russian troops gathered on the Ukrainian border, fears are mounting that a major conflict could break out in Europe.
Ukraine’s calls to Western allies to bolster its defence capabilities have seen the United States, Britain and Baltic states agree to send to Kyiv weapons, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.