Merz Makes Surprise Kyiv Visit, Pledges €1.3 Billion as Russian Drone Hits Kyiv Bridge Hours After He Arrives

Since Russia's Foreign Ministry warned Saturday it would keep hitting Kyiv and told foreign nationals to leave the city, the bombardment has only intensified. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz chose that moment to fly into the Ukrainian capital Sunday, Oct. 4, on an unannounced visit, arriving to air raid sirens and a Russian drone strike on the city's Northern Bridge within hours of landing.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the strike damaged the bridge's roadway and the area's hot-water supply system. Two people were injured, according to Klitschko. Russia has targeted Kyiv's bridges over the Dnipro River for four straight days, including five hits on the Southern Bridge in less than 24 hours on Thursday and Friday, according to CNN. Five of the city's six road bridges are now under restricted or suspended traffic, the Guardian reported.

Russia's defense ministry said the Northern Bridge strike targeted a route used to move troops and military equipment, and said it also hit two cargo vessels carrying military gear to Odesa. Ukrainian officials, cited by CNN, say the bridge campaign is an attempt to cut Kyiv in half along the river, separating the government and business district on the right bank from the mostly residential left bank. Kyiv's infrastructure minister said Sunday the city plans to begin building alternative river crossings if the strikes continue.

The Package: €1.3 Billion Now, €8.5 Billion Later

Standing alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Merz announced roughly €1 billion ($1.13 billion) in new military aid focused on air defense, long-range strike weapons, combat drones and satellite communications, plus €350 million ($396 million) to repair Ukrainian power substations before winter, according to Kyiv Post, which cited Ukrinform's reporting on the joint briefing.

"There is a new support package for Ukraine, a comprehensive package of more than €1.3 billion," Zelensky said, according to Kyiv Post. Merz declined to detail the military components, saying only that Germany is "launching another military support package worth around one billion euros" built around long-range standoff weapons and satellite tech.

Beyond the aid, the two governments and corporate partners signed 15 bilateral agreements worth more than €8.5 billion ($9.6 billion), covering long-term arms manufacturing, joint defense ventures on Ukrainian soil, and direct orders for German industry, Zelensky said. Ukrinform and NV both reported Merz also pledged roughly 1,000 interceptor drones to counter Russia's jet-powered Shahed-type drones, which Ukraine's air defenses have struggled to stop. Merz was accompanied by Economy Minister Katherina Reiche and executives from Siemens Energy, Hensoldt, Diehl Defence and Quantum Systems, according to SANA.

"If Russia is not stopped, its war machine will sooner or later turn against us," Merz said after arriving. He called the visit a message that Ukraine "can rely on us."

Germany's Domestic Problem

The visit comes as Merz's governing coalition is losing ground at home. An INSA poll cited by NV shows the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, at 30% support nationally for the first time, while Merz's CDU/CSU bloc dropped a point to 18%, a 12-point gap NV called a historic low for the CDU and CSU, citing Bild. AfD has already won outright in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania this fall, where Merz's party failed to clear the 5% threshold needed to enter the state parliament.

AfD has campaigned against the scale of Germany's Ukraine spending, and a reasonable AfD voter's concern that Berlin is committing tens of billions of euros to a foreign war while the governing coalition's own support craters at home is a fair one to state plainly, even if it isn't the frame German officials are using this week. NV's own description of AfD as "pro-Russian" is the outlet's characterization, not an established fact independently verified here, and the party's actual platform is broader than foreign policy. What is verifiable is the polling gap itself and the string of state election losses.

Germany has sent Ukraine more than €43.3 billion ($48.8 billion) since the war began, according to the Associated Press, as reported by Breitbart, making it Ukraine's largest donor. The Guardian reported Germany has surpassed the United States as Ukraine's biggest provider of military aid as American support has declined, though that claim rests on the Guardian's own sourcing and wasn't independently confirmed elsewhere in this reporting.

Meanwhile Russia's Foreign Ministry has not backed off its warning to foreign diplomats. European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand said Brussels has no intention of reducing support over the threats, and EU envoy Katarina Mathernová confirmed all 25 EU missions remain operational in Kyiv, per Kyiv Post. Whether Russia follows through with the larger strikes its ministry has promised, and whether Merz's coalition can hold its Ukraine policy together as AfD's lead widens, are the two threads left hanging after Sunday's visit.