After a call with Chancellor Merz, Zelensky says Germany will deliver new air defense packages, including IRIS-T missiles, to Ukraine before the end of September.
President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine will receive new air defense packages from Germany before the end of this month. The announcement followed a phone call with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on September 2. According to Zelensky, the package will include additional missiles for Ukraine's IRIS-T air defense systems. Volunteers Support Ukraine tracks partner air-defense deliveries closely, because they directly determine how well Ukrainian cities can be protected during mass missile and drone strikes.
The conversation took place as Germany investigates an incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport, where on the night of August 4-5 a drone carrying explosives deliberately struck a parked Ukrainian An-124 cargo aircraft's wing; the charge failed to detonate. A second drone crossed paths with a Boeing 757 freighter the same night, forcing it to abort its landing and divert to Hanover with minor damage. On September 1, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the government had concluded Russia was behind the attack.
Zelensky called the incident "yet another Russian escalation" and stressed that Germany's response mattered. He also offered Germany Ukraine's accumulated experience in countering drone threats.
According to Ukraine's presidential office, teams from both countries are finalizing the text of a so-called "Drone Deal" meant to strengthen both Germany's and Ukraine's defenses against unmanned threats. Zelensky thanked Merz for Germany's "steadfast support and leadership" and said the two leaders had agreed to meet in person soon.
The IRIS-T SLM systems Germany has already delivered to Ukraine have, according to Ukrainian officials, repeatedly shot down Russian Kh-101 cruise missiles, Iskander-K ballistic missiles and Shahed-type attack drones during mass strikes.
The new German packages arrive as Ukrainian cities face nearly daily mass strikes — over the past 24 hours alone, air defense shot down more than a hundred hostile drones and missiles. Every additional system or batch of interceptor missiles has a direct bearing on how many civilian sites can be protected this autumn and winter.
NGO Volunteers Support Ukraine continues to help people affected by the war in whatever way its available resources allow, and follows verified news about international support closely — because decisions like this one shape how safe Ukrainians will be during the next wave of attacks.
