German self-congratulation in Kyiv

Heading for suicide alongside Ukraine

by Uli Gellermann*

(7 August 2026) In the Kyiv metro, one can read German self-congratulation on advertising space: under the headline “Razom” (meaning “Together” in English), the German government is running a poster campaign promoting the vast quantities of weapons and money it is investing in Ukraine’s war against Russia.Every shot, a Russian!

The average Kyiv metro passenger neither receives German money directly nor can he buy the German weapons so heavily advertised on the posters. So, the German campaign is nothing more than a call to Ukrainian parents to keep going: “We Germans are supplying so many fine weapons, so you might as well keep sending your sons off to this murderous war! And the longer you send your sons off to war, the longer our arms industry will profit from this war. Our propaganda unit already coined this snappy slogan during the First World War: ‘Every shot, a Russian!’” Some in the German high command feel bound by this fateful history: they want to finally win a war against Russia.

Every shot, a Russian!

The average Kyiv metro passenger neither receives German money directly nor can he buy the German weapons so heavily advertised on the posters. So, the German campaign is nothing more than a call to Ukrainian parents to keep going: “We Germans are supplying so many fine weapons, so you might as well keep sending your sons off to this murderous war! And the longer you send your sons off to war, the longer our arms industry will profit from this war. Our propaganda unit already coined this snappy slogan during the First World War: ‘Every shot, a Russian!’” Some in the German high command feel bound by this fateful history: they want to finally win a war against Russia.

NATO is losing in Ukraine

Anyone in their right mind knows that NATO will lose its war in Ukraine. The war broke out when Ukraine was determined to become a member of NATO. NATO is the US’s aggressive instrument for securing its global dominance. It was already involved in the destruction of Yugoslavia, and it dragged Germany into the war in Afghanistan. These wars resulted in the first German war dead since 1945. The Taliban, who were fought by NATO in Afghanistan, still rule there. They had – and still have – home advantage.

The US will lose the war against Iran

The US, as NATO’s leading power, is waging a war against Iran. Iran, too, has home advantage. Whatever one may think of Iran’s political leadership, it is defending itself – in the interests of the Iranian people – against a US attack that contravenes international law. As was the case in Afghanistan: home advantage counts; the US will lose this war as well.

A stepping stone against Russia

The German government is heralding its own downfall in Kyiv: with German weapons and German money, it hopes to win a war against Russia. The German elites did not succeed in this during either the First or the Second World War. The third attempt is via Ukraine: as a NATO member, it is intended to become a stepping stone against Russia. The Russians cannot and will not allow this. They are defending their country against a NATO thorn in the flesh of their homeland.

When will it be too late?

When will the Germans realise the danger they are in? When the Rheinmetall AG tank factory in Düsseldorf is hit by Russian missiles? When the Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems submarine shipyard in Kiel goes up in flames? When the Heckler & Koch factory in Baden-Württemberg is bombed, or the munitions production facility in Unterlüss, Lower Saxony? By then it will be too late to withdraw support from a suicidal German government. A government that is testing Russia’s patience to the limit and apparently believes that the Russians are blind.

* Uli Gellermann, 1945, is a German journalist and filmmaker.

Source: https://www.rationalgalerie.de/home/deutsches-selbstlob-in-kiew, 16 July 2026

(Translation “Swiss Standpoint”)