Germany will add 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles to its arms supplies to Ukraine after the first supply of defense weapons, Berlin government officials said on Thursday.
The missiles have been requested by the Ukrainian government, which is struggling to break Russia’s dominance in its airspace as Russian troops step up shelling of civilian targets, the official said.
Weapons fired from the shoulder, known as the Arrow, can be used against helicopters and planes and will be transported to Ukraine within days. Soviet missiles belonged to the armed forces of the former East Germany and are among the most common weapons of this type in the world. They were preserved years ago and are now stored by the Ministry of Environment.
As part of a recent policy reversal sparked by the Russian invasion, Germany has already approved the delivery to Kiev of 1,000 anti-tank missiles and 500 US-made anti-aircraft weapons known as the Stingers.
Berlin has also approved exports to Ukraine of weapons of German origin from other nations such as Estonia and the Netherlands.
Correction: Germany will add 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles to its arms supplies to Ukraine. An earlier version of this post said it would add 27,000.