1.
Germany must supply more weapons.
Lots more guns.
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People fleeing the Kiev suburb of Irpin
Photo: DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP
After Putin's plan to conquer Ukraine by marching through failed due to resistance from the Ukrainians, he resorted to increasingly brutal means.
His soldiers bombed residential buildings, killed fleeing families and apparently even fired on the evacuation buses in the escape corridor between Zaporizhia and the encircled Mariupol.
This was reported by Ukrainian authorities at noon today.
Germany's Federal Public Prosecutor Peter Frank today launched preliminary proceedings on suspicion of Russian war crimes.
Such a procedure serves to secure evidence in order to be able to take action against perpetrators later.
Prosecutors are eyeing reports of cluster bombs, attacks on civilian infrastructure, a gas pipeline, a nuclear waste dump and a combined heat and power plant.
Reports on so-called target lists should also be in focus.
These lists contain the names of Ukrainian politicians whom Putin wants dead, above all President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
War crimes prosecution is important.
But what can Germany do to prevent further atrocities, perhaps even to stop Putin?
Some say the West must hold back, de-escalate, that Ukraine should capitulate, then everyone would stay alive.
“Fighting an unwinnable war may be extremely courageous, but it can also be very wrong,” writes Thomas Fischer in his new column.
I think Fischer's analysis is wrong, if only because no one can say whether it really is a war that cannot be won.
So far, Putin's troops have not given the impression of being invincible.
It is all the more our duty to help the Ukrainians in their struggle wherever we can, especially with weapons.
Ukraine has been asking the Bundeswehr for military support for weeks.
We sent 1,000 rocket-propelled grenades, 500 "Stinger" surface-to-air missiles and a few helmets.
More rockets of the "Strela" type from GDR stocks are to follow, but many of them are in a technically defective condition.
This is a start, but Ukraine needs more.
Last week the ambassador wrote the federal government a list of what is missing.
He names more than two dozen different weapon systems, from tanks to drones to speedboats.
Since it became clear that Putin's army could be on the border with Poland after conquering Ukraine, the German government wants to spend an extra 100 billion euros on armaments.
Perhaps a fraction of that is enough to prevent Putin from getting that far.
Read more here: According to Ukrainian information, Russia fires on escape corridor from Mariupol
2.
Putin's Oil?
We do not need.
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Oil valves in Siberia
Photo: Sergei Karpukhin/ REUTERS
Despite the war, our energy deals with Russia just keep going.
Trade in oil, gas and coal is exempt from the sanctions.
Every day we Europeans pay more than 500 million euros into Putin's war chest.
The trend is rising because Russia is benefiting from high energy prices.
And Chancellor Olaf Scholz doesn't want to change anything either.
He says an embargo would hit us more than Putin and is therefore unwise.
My colleague Stefan Schultz comes to a different conclusion in his analysis today, he writes: »An embargo would be morally correct – and economically feasible.«
In order to damage Putin economically, one would have to grab him primarily in the oil business.
This is where Russia makes the most money, also with Germany.
But we have alternatives to Russian oil, Stefan writes: »All in all, Russia serves less than five percent of global demand.
And the world oil market is well integrated: oil tankers can unload their cargo anywhere in the world and change their routes.
Many industrial nations also had large oil reserves.
A portion has recently been released.
But the floodgates could be opened even more.
Even then, the reserves should last for several months.
In addition, the demand could be dampened, if necessary by car-free Sundays.
Given the humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine, many citizens could support such measures.
A price surge on the world oil market could therefore probably be cushioned.
Ultimately, prices could even fall once the market knows where it is again.
Stefan predicts that supply chains can be reorganized after an embargo.
An oil embargo would probably hit Putin harder than any other sanctions that have been decided so far.
Most of the companies affected are state-owned.
They could sell some of the oil to India or China, but only at a discount.
US President Joe Biden is setting a good example here.
The White House announced today that oil imports from Russia would be banned in the future.
Our risk is that Putin will respond to an oil embargo by turning off the gas supply.
We couldn't get a replacement for his gas any time soon.
A team of scholars from the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina believes the impact of a short-term suspension of supplies of natural gas from Russia is "manageable," according to a new statement.
But of course the economy would suffer.
But Russia would also lose a lot of money if its gas supplies were stopped.
"The EU and Russia would then find themselves in an economic endurance competition," writes Stefan.
I think we should take a chance.
Read more here: An oil embargo is possible – and yet it probably won't happen
3. Donations, donations, donations
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Humanitarian aid for refugees in the Maria Zankovetska Theater
Photo:
Pavlo Palamarchuk / REUTERS
Putin's war has triggered a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
In the embattled cities there is distress.
Aid organizations try to provide the trapped people with the essentials.
My colleague Ann-Dorit Boy spoke to Igor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, which is near the border with Russia and has been under fire for the past 12 days.
"Hundreds of our buildings have been completely destroyed," Terekhov said.
“Tens of thousands of people have lost their homes.
Many civilians have been killed and injured in our country."
Ann-Dorit also tried to phone the mayor of Mariupol, Vadim Boichenko, to no avail.
Dominik Stillhart, director of international operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), says that contact with many people in Mariupol has been lost because the city has been without water and electricity for at least five days.
People could no longer charge mobile phones.
According to Ukrainian sources, the heating also failed.
"It's extremely difficult for our teams to work, they spend a lot of time in air raid shelters themselves," says Stillhart.
Despite this, the ICRC, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Red Cross, has just managed to distribute food, water and medicine to 4,000 residents.
How can we Germans help the people in Ukraine and the now more than 1.7 million refugees?
Very simple: donations, donations, donations.
Here is a list of organizations that care.
If you like drinking wine, I have a tip for you.
The Moselle winery Selbach-Oster, which has been decorated with all sorts of Parker, Johnson and Wine Spectator medals, has donated a special filling of Riesling to the Deutschland Hilft campaign.
The bottles have a label in Ukrainian colors and cost ten euros;
everything else at selbach-oster.de.
Read the full story here: »Our stocks are depleted«
(Would you like to receive the "Situation in the evening" conveniently by e-mail in your inbox? Here you can order the daily briefing as a newsletter.)
What else is important today
Diesel price rises in Germany to over two euros per liter for the first time:
The nationwide daily average fuel prices have risen to over two euros per liter for the first time.
The reason for this is Russia's war against Ukraine - and homeowners who are buying heating oil for next winter.
Flooding in Sydney again – many suburbs are to be evacuated:
“There are hard 24 hours or even 48 hours ahead of us”: There is no relaxation in the flood areas of Australia.
A woman and a man died in a car in Sydney.
Dozens of raids again because of fake vaccination cards in the Rhineland:
70 apartments and a company were searched: the police in North Rhine-Westphalia are taking action against false vaccination cards and certificates with a large contingent.
Against a suspected counterfeiter - and numerous buyers.
Walter surprisingly wins gold – German set of medals in biathlon:
At the Paralympics, an 18-year-old German student left the favorites in biathlon behind.
Martin Fleig and Anja Wicker also won medals - although Wicker missed five shots.
My favorite story today: The most uncool band in the world
One of the weird records that people of my generation listened to when they were young and never listened to since is British band Marillion's album »Misplaced Childhood«.
The cover: an airbrushed nightmare.
And then the music.
"Incredible kitsch," wrote a critic who meant it comparatively well.
"Slicked up prog rock delivered like a can of piss hitting you in the back of the head," wrote another.
My colleague Oliver Kaever from the culture department has now made a confession that requires courage in critic circles.
He's been a Marillion fan since he was young.
"I love the most uncool band in the world," he writes.
"And now I even stand by it."
Oliver writes how difficult it was to come into contact with new music in a small town on the Lower Rhine in the mid-1980s.
»The only record shop in my hometown was called »Musik-Boutique« and mostly carried music productions by the Münchener Freiheit and the Klaus Lage Band.
Even Marillion were already considered indie there – a saleswoman pronounced the band name with a French nasal at the end.« And so for him Marillion were the door openers to the world of prog rock at a time when this genre had actually long since died out, killed by punk and post punk.
"Everything about this music seemed to harbor a secret, seemed mystically charged and intoxicatingly artificial," writes Oliver.
"I had no idea at the time that Marillion was committing a mortal sin with this style."
I enjoyed Oliver's story.
Not because of Marillion, but because his story is about our "guilty pleasures," those uncool favorite songs we secretly listen to when no one else is around, but louder then.
In my case: "Mr.
Blue Sky« by ELO.
Write me which song you're singing along to in the car: alexander.neubacher@spiegel.de
Read the whole story here: I love the most uncool band in the world.
How could this happen?
What we recommend at SPIEGEL+ today
Will Putin become the US President's election assistant?
Joe Biden's poll numbers were in the basement - then Russia invaded Ukraine.
The US President can now present himself as the leader of the West.
Even Republicans have backing.
Vaccination side effects are mostly harmless and quickly over:
Many people were or are afraid of vaccination side effects.
A large US study now makes it clear: Most reactions are harmless.
Only in a few isolated cases have serious side effects or deaths occurred.
Why fewer calories can rejuvenate the immune system:
A 14 percent reduction in the intake of energy from food apparently prevents diseases.
The immunobiologist Vishwa Deep Dixit has researched the mechanism - and discovered an approach for an anti-aging tablet.
The Hell of Hengasch:
"Murder with a View" was once a highlight among the German-language television series.
Now it is being revived with a new cast.
We took a look.
A report of suffering.
Which isn't that important today
Enlarge image
Brown bear (icon image)
Photo: Günter Passage / IMAGO
Honey mouth: Juan Carrito, probably the most famous brown bear in Italy since a confectionery raid, fell into the trap of his hunters at the weekend.
According to media reports, emergency services caught the bear in Abruzzo and brought it to a reserve.
Recently he had been around people a lot.
Last fall, he looted a pastry shop.
In the reserve, Juan Carrito is supposed to get used to foraging in nature instead of in garbage cans or shops.
However, his arrest met with protests from some residents of the town of Roccaraso.
They wish the bear freedom and have started a petition against captivity in the reserve.
After all, Juan Carrito never harmed anyone during his raids.
Typo of the day
, now corrected: For Gottfried Benn, she was the greatest poet Germany had ever had
Cartoon of the Day:
Women's Day
And tonight?
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Pre-war View of Kyiv: A Modern European Country
Photo: Salvatore Alleruzzo/EyeEm/Getty Images
What do we Germans know about Ukraine, its history, its culture, its food, its nature?
My impression: Not too much, myself included.
Years ago I went to Kyiv with the SPIEGEL soccer team for a friendly match (we lost drastically);
that was my only trip to Ukraine.
Even now, when Putin is blowing up the country, the beauty of the cities still flashes in the TV images.
My colleague Tobias Rapp has selected three non-fiction books that help to close knowledge gaps.
The first book is by the Berlin historian Karl Schlögel, it is called »Decision in Kyiv: Ukrainian Lessons« and was written in 2014 out of the shock at the start of the war in the east of the country.
Schlögel tells the stories of the cities of Kyiv, Odessa, Lemberg, Donetsk and Dnepropetrovsk;
he was particularly taken with Kharkiv.
You can understand why Schlögel seems so sad when he appears on talk shows these days.
He has been warning of Russian aggression for years.
You can read in his article which two other Ukraine books Tobias recommends.
One book does away with Putin's lies about the country's history, the other with our western clichés.
I wish you a stimulating evening.
Yours sincerely,
Alexander Neubacher
Here you can order the »Situation in the Evening« by e-mail.