07/20/2022 13:01 (act. 07/20/2022 13:29)
Second visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to Kyiv ©APA/BMEIA
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) and his Czech counterpart Jan Lipavsky visited the airport in the Kiev suburb of Hostomel, and then Irpin on Wednesday. In Irpin, facing the countless ruins of residential buildings, Schallenberg emphasized that these photos would “get under your skin”. As an Austrian, you have to realize that this all took place “in the immediate vicinity”, just a few hours by train from Vienna.
“It also shows something, as we saw earlier at the airport, how the Russian Federation, especially Vladimir Putin, miscalculated.” The Russian troops really thought that “they will be greeted with bread and salt and that they will not be shot”. This shows how heroically Ukraine defended itself, but also that there is never any good in war. “War is horrible, war is death, war is destruction,” said the foreign minister.
Irpin Mayor Oleksandar Markushin told foreign ministers that 95% of residents of Irpin, a town of about 100,000 people, fled the community during the fighting. Meanwhile, 75% of residents have returned. “If we hadn’t won the battle of Irpin, there would have been fighting in Kyiv,” Markushin said. He asked Schallenberg for help in rebuilding, because more than 100 buildings in the city, including schools and kindergartens, as well as several residential buildings were completely destroyed. Schallenberg promised to help “give people perspective again whenever possible.”
At Hostomel, the international cargo and factory airport was taken over by Russian landing troops on the first day of the aggressive war, and a few hours later the Ukrainians recaptured it. The fighting that saw the airport return to Russian hands destroyed much of the infrastructure, as well as the only airworthy example of the Antonov An-225 – the world’s longest aircraft and the pride of Ukrainian aviation. Many destroyed warehouses can be seen during the on-site inspection, and a commander explained the course of the fighting to the foreign ministers.
In the afternoon, the two foreign ministers will meet Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal and their colleague Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv. This will be followed by a press conference with Kuleba. The trip to Ukraine was planned in the so-called Slavkov format (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia), but the Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok had to cancel at short notice due to a corona disease.