Amid news on Russian troops slowly advancing on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, and bombardments and civilian casualties reported daily, Germany decided to send defensive weapons to the ex-Soviet country, including Strela light-weight, shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile, or MANPADS.

Yet, there may be a problem because, according to the local reports, a large part of these missiles are no longer operational as they have long been left to rot in storage facilities.

Earlier, it was claimed that the European country was to send a total of 2,700 Strela missiles, though the delivery has not yet been approved.

The Soviet-made missiles belonged to the National People's Army (NVA) of what was once called the German Democratic Republic (GDR) or East Germany.

The question was whether these missiles are still functioning, and according to German weekly magazine Der Spiegel, they absolutely are not.

Some 700 missiles in the delivery are no longer operational, Der Spiegel reported, which was later cited by the daily tabloid Bild, as well.

The Federal Office for Equipment exports is to check the material before the delivery of the missiles is approved by the Federal Security Council.

The reports noted that the rockets are at least 35 years old and were blocked from use in 2012 due to "microcracks in the ammunition's propellant charge, which led to corrosion/oxidation."

Der Spiegel also stressed that the wooden boxes in which the rockets are stored were so moldy that Bundeswehr soldiers in November were only allowed to enter the storage facilities with protective equipment.

Germany on Saturday decided to deliver some 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine.

The Stingers and rocket-propelled grenades arrived in Ukraine on Wednesday. Besides, NATO partners Netherlands and Estonia have also approved to supply Ukraine with weapons that come from German production or East German stock.