When Oleksii Makeiev arrived in Berlin, he placed a flip chart in his office displaying photographs of Bundeswehr military equipment under the heading Wunschliste ("wish list"). Today, nearly every image bears a checkmark.
The ambassador recalls that in the autumn of 2022, shortly after taking up his post in Berlin, he unexpectedly received an envelope from Germany's Ministry of Defense containing promotional brochures featuring equipment in service with the Bundeswehr.
"I called the ministry and asked, 'Did you send these so I could choose what we need?' They just laughed," Makeiev recalls.
Using the catalog as a reference, he created his own Wunschliste, gradually ticking off each item as Ukraine received the corresponding weapons systems from Germany.
Much of what seemed highly unlikely in 2022 has since become reality. Today, Germany is Ukraine's largest European provider of military assistance.
