Responsible for military aid to Ukraine: Christian Freuding to head the Bundeswehr

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius appointed the incumbent Inspector of the Army, Lieutenant General Christian Freuding, as the new Inspector General of the Bundeswehr. He was responsible for military aid to Ukraine, the ministry's press service reports, as cited by UNN.

Details

The position was previously held by General Carsten Breuer, who was appointed chairman of the NATO Military Committee in September 2026.

Lieutenant General Freuding meets all the requirements to become a role model for our servicemen and women and lead them into a new era in which we must defend ourselves better than in previous decades. As head of the Special Staff for Ukraine, Freuding analyzed the rapid technological changes in Russia's war against Ukraine and drew conclusions regarding the Bundeswehr's defense capabilities. As Inspector of the Army, he identified and implemented the right measures within the shortest possible time. For example, he achieved the establishment of the first drone regiment in the Army, which is currently being formed. He has convincingly demonstrated that even in times of major changes and challenges, he keeps a cool head, quickly makes the right decisions, and puts them into practice, the Bundeswehr said in a statement.

Additional information

Christian Freuding is trained as an Army intelligence officer and political scientist. He participated in military operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Afghanistan as part of the SFOR and ISAF international missions, respectively.

He completed German and British general staff courses and held various staff positions, including at a division headquarters and as an adviser at the Federal Ministry of Defense. From 2017 to 2019, he was the aide-de-camp to the Federal Minister of Defense.

In 2022, following the start of Russia's full-scale war, he headed the "Ukraine" Special Staff at the German Ministry of Defense. From 2023 to 2025, he headed the newly created Planning and Command Staff at Germany's Ministry of Defense, thereby assuming overall responsibility for organizing the ministry's various tasks during a period of fundamental change. In October 2025, Boris Pistorius entrusted him with command of Germany's Army.

Carsten Breuer had headed the German armed forces since 2023. Before that, he commanded a number of Bundeswehr units, including in Kosovo, and worked at NATO headquarters. At the end of 2021, he headed the federal government's crisis staff for combating the coronavirus pandemic, which was disbanded in May 2022.

NATO’s new plan envisages strikes on targets deep in Russia’s rear04.11.26, 18:01 • 6682 views