A Russian politician suggested on state television attacking Germany's foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, as she visited Ukraine's embattled Kharkiv region on Tuesday.
Baerbock, who became the first German cabinet member to visit the eastern Kharkiv region, pledged ahead of her surprise trip to provide Ukraine with more weapons and "concrete offers" to assist the war-torn country join the European Union.
Ukrainians "should know that they can count on our solidarity and support" and "that includes further arms deliveries," she said.
An excerpt from the Russian state TV program was shared on Twitter on Wednesday by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs.
"Attention, Germany! Direct call for murdering @ABaerbock by Aleksey Zhuravlev, Russian politician and member of parliament. I wonder if he's been sanctioned," Gerashchenko tweeted.
In the 14-second clip, first broadcast on Russian state-owned television channel "Russia-1", Zhuravlev, a member of the State Duma and leader of the nationalist political party "Rodina," which openly supports Russian President Vladimir Putin, launched a scathing attack on the foreign minister.
"I don't get it...that Anna or Lena, whoever she is...," the official began.
"Baerbock walks around Kharkiv. What, don't we know where she is? What, don't we have high-precision weapons? What is she doing there?" Zhuravlev added.
Baerbock was accompanied in Kharkiv on Tuesday by Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and the Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev.
"This city is a symbol of the absolute insanity of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and of the endless suffering that people, especially here in the east of the country, are confronted with every day," she said in a statement released ahead of a meeting with Kuleba.
Baerbock didn't elaborate on which weapons Germany intends to send Ukraine, but said Ukrainians need these weapons "to free its citizens who are still suffering under the terror of Russian occupation."
Germany earlier said it would deliver Marder infantry vehicles to Ukraine.
"In Kharkiv we can see the courage, the resilience and therefore the hope for a life in peace," Baerbock told reporters at a news briefing after arriving in Ukraine.
"We as the government want to make very concrete offers to Ukraine in order to make progress in strengthening the rule of law, independent institutions and the fight against corruption, as well as in aligning with EU standards," she added.
Newsweek reached out to the foreign ministries of Russia and Germany for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
