More than half of the surveyed citizens of Germany are currently against providing Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles, which Kyiv requested for targeting Russian military facilities deep within Russia.

According to the latest ARD-DeutschlandTrend poll, 52% of German voters with the right to vote believe that Germany should not supply long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, which can be used against targets at greater distances, while 36% are in favour.

Support among residents of western regions of Germany is at 40%, noticeably higher than in the eastern regions (21%). Another 12% have no opinion on the matter.

In terms of political party supporters, the highest approval for sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine is observed among the Greens, part of the governing coalition: 68% are in favour, while 23% are against.

Among supporters of the Free Democrats, also part of the coalition in Berlin, support for providing Taurus missiles is at 56%. Opinions are evenly divided among Social Democrats (42% in favour and 42% against) and the center-right opposition CDU/CSU (45% in favour, 48% against).

The lowest level of approval, predictably, is among voters of the far-right Alternative for Germany – 18%.

Taurus missiles belong to the most modern weaponry of the German Air Force. In terms of characteristics, Taurus is similar to the Storm Shadow missiles, provided to Ukraine by the United Kingdom and France (known as SCALP).

The missile is capable of hitting targets even farther, up to 500 kilometers, thanks to its more modern jet engine, without the aircraft entering the enemy's airspace. Taurus flies at a speed of almost 1000 km/h and at a very low altitude, less than 50 meters above the ground, making it difficult to detect by enemy radars.

Spiegel reports that classified negotiations with representatives of the defence industry regarding the supply of missiles are currently ongoing, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to make technical modifications to the missiles to make it impossible for Kyiv to strike Russian territory, other than Russian-occupied Crimea.