Ukraine has right to self-defense: Envoy responds to Berlin’s “concerns” over drone use
The German government’s criticism of the Ukrainian Army related to the recent first-time use of a Bayraktar TB2 strike drone in Donbas has led to diplomatic tensions between Kyiv and Berlin.
The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, firmly disagreed with Germany’s position on the issue in a comment to Bild.
"The Ukrainian side firmly rejects today's warning from the Foreign Office," Melnyk told the newspaper.
Ukraine has "the legitimate right to self-defense if its territory is bombarded day and night with heavy Russian weapons and if civilians and soldiers are killed".
For this reason, Ukraine for its part "calls on the German government, instead of expressing concern about the dramatic situation in the occupied territories, to redouble its efforts as a mediator in order to convene a Normandy Four summit in Berlin as agreed and to put Moscow in its place.”
The German government spokesperson, commenting on the Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine on Wednesday, said that “all sides are using drones, which, according to the Minsk agreement, is reserved for the OSCE alone.” The German government called on “all sides to de-escalate.”
The Minsk Agreement of September 2014 banned “foreign drones” 15 kilometers from the contact line in eastern Ukraine. However, the Bayraktar drone used in Wednesday’s strike was operated by Ukrainian military and no foreign force was involved in the attack.
Apparently the German government, like the Russian occupation authorities, regards the Ukrainian Army’s drone as foreign due to its manufacture in Turkey.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, from 14:25 to 15:15 local time on October 26, a battery of D-30 howitzers manned by the Russian terrorist forces was firing on the Joint Forces’ positions in the area of Hranitne.
Two Ukrainian servicemen were wounded in that shelling, one of whom later succumbed to his wounds. With the start of the attack, Ukraine immediately demanded through the OSCE SMM that the enemy cease fire, and send a relevant note through diplomatic channels. However, the invaders did not react to the demand.
Eventually, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Valery Zaluzhnyi ordered that a Bayraktar reconnaissance and strike UAV to be employed to force the enemy to cease fire. The UAV destroyed an enemy artillery unit with a guided bomb, without crossing the line of contact.
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