1. Criminal Order
When war crimes are tried in court, it may be a triumph of the rule of law over the barbaric nature of man.
Unfortunately, the processes often seem strangely petty.
For one thing, no amount of punishment, however draconian, can atone for the horrors of indiscriminate extermination or genocide.
On the other hand, it is often not the real arsonists and warmongers who are sitting in the dock, but the personnel subordinate to them, i.e. the cannon fodder.
For the first time since the start of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, a soldier from the Kremlin troops was sentenced by a court in Kyiv today for his crimes.
Enlarge image
The convicted Vadim Sch.
in the Kiev court
Photo: YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP
21-year-old Vadim Sh.
has confessed to killing a defenseless 62-year-old civilian.
'I regret it.
I regret it very much," said the accused, who looks little older than a teenager in the pictures.
His lawyer had apparently stated in defense that Wadim Sch.
didn't want to kill his victim: "He carried out an order, even though it was a criminal order".
The judges in Kyiv were not impressed and imposed a life sentence.
The philosopher Hannah Arendt once described the appearance of the Nazi Adolf Eichmann in the Holocaust trial in Israel in the 1960s as the »banality of evil«.
Eichmann's guilt is probably not comparable to that of Wadim Sch.
After all, from 1941 he coordinated the so-called “Final Solution to the Jewish Question”.
But Eichmann, too, appeared in court as the simple recipient of orders who could not resist the instructions of others.
He was sentenced to death in 1961 and hanged in 1962.
It is certainly true that the conviction of a simple Russian soldier does not make up for the evil, that is, the evil of the Ukraine war.
Nevertheless, it is the beginning of a path towards a hopefully civilized future.
In which one day the real perpetrators of the war in Ukraine may also be in the dock.
Read the full story here: Murder of a civilian – Russian soldier sentenced to life imprisonment in Ukraine
And here is more news and background information on the war in Ukraine:
Written the truth, lost freedom:
Mikhail Afanasyev described how Russian special police officers refused to continue fighting in Ukraine.
Now he faces years in prison.
His case shows how the Putin regime is making examples with the new censorship law.
The Blitzkrieg app:
In the fight against Russia's soldiers, clever software is apparently used that can forward fire commands in no time.
All Ukrainian commanders need for this is a smartphone.
This region wants to belong to Russia - why?
The separatist republic of South Ossetia, located in northern Georgia, wants to unite with Moscow and is planning a referendum.
But there is little to suggest that Putin is now interested in an annexation.
Find all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine here: The News Update
2. Photo safari
Chancellor Scholz is currently traveling through Africa.
At the start of his tour, he promised help to the countries on the continent affected by the global food crisis.
He offered Senegal cooperation in gas production.
Other stops on the three-day trip include Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, and South Africa, the most important partner country in sub-Saharan Africa.
During his trip, Scholz will also talk about why many African countries have so far refrained from clearly condemning Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
He sharply criticized the presence of Russian mercenaries in Mali.
Enlarge image
Chancellor Scholz in a Bundeswehr transport aircraft: "Very successful mandate"
Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa
Certainly there will also be some nice "photo ops" on Scholz's Africa trip, which the chancellor says he actually wants to avoid, which is why he still hasn't traveled to Kyiv.
But instead of blaming him for this discrepancy between words and deeds, one could simply praise the chancellor.
At least that's what FDP politician Harald Christ thinks in a guest article for SPIEGEL.
The former FDP treasurer finds “some shrill criticism of Scholz” inaccurate and unfair.
"Since the founding of the Federal Republic, no government has been so brutally overtaken by world politics just a few months after taking office," Christ points out.
No chancellor or coalition partner has ever had to give up old certainties in such a short space of time.
A government that emerges from democratic elections has "a certain right to something like, yes, respect, especially in times like these."
Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, German security policy has had to adapt at first hesitantly, then at breakneck speed to the changed framework conditions of the Euro-Atlantic security order, agrees security expert and guest lecturer at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, Markus Kaim.
Nevertheless, he criticizes Scholz in his guest article "If Putin loses...".
The Chancellor's goal "Russia must not win and Ukraine must not lose" remains unclear and merely a minimum goal.
Scholz must finally spell out exactly what that means and what political and military steps arise from it.
Read more here: "Some shrill criticism of Scholz is inaccurate and unfair"
3. Handkerchiefs full of tears
Climate change, scarcity of resources, famine, species extinction - and now also monkeypox, to prevent the spread of which the British government today imposed a three-week quarantine on those affected.
Even without the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the world is currently full of problems.
From the point of view of the Sipri research institute, the international community is currently hardly in a position to tackle this together.
Accordingly, a dangerous mixture of environmental and security crises is currently harboring complex risks for peace in the world.
In a report published today, peace researchers from Stockholm warn that decision-makers are not prepared for this "new age of risks".
Because everything is still not bad enough, the hero of my childhood is still in prison.
Boris Becker had to start his two and a half years in prison for criminal offenses in the insolvency proceedings immediately after the sentence was announced at the end of April.
London's Wandsworth Prison is just a few minutes' drive from Center Court in Wimbledon, where Becker once triumphed at the age of 17 and suddenly became world famous.
Enlarge image
Boris Becker in London at the end of April: He is currently serving his sentence in Wandsworth Prison
Photo:
Frank Augstein/AP
What relief can Becker hope for, is an appeal still possible and what chances of success would it have?
My colleague Marco Schulz answers these questions, among others, in his text today.
In it, the German lawyer Patrick Jacobshagen says the following beautiful sentence: »Handkerchiefs full of tears could help in the appeal.
But only if they can be proven to date from before the conviction."
Becker was not particularly remorseful in the process, which is why the judge's judgment is understandable and therefore difficult to challenge.
Since I don't just want to say goodbye to you on Monday evening with bad news, I recommend the article by my colleague Florian Haupt from the SPIEGEL sports department about the new prodigy of the current tennis tour, Carlos Alcaraz.
Read more here: Is Boris Becker threatened with deportation from England?
(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
"There are currently no signs of recession":
Last month, German companies were still concerned about the long-term effects of the corona crisis and the effects of the war in Ukraine.
They seem gone now.
Biden promises Taiwan military support in the event of a Chinese attack:
The conflict between China and Taiwan is brewing in the Pacific.
US President Biden has now announced that the US would also defend Taiwan militarily.
Beijing immediately responded with a threat.
Karin Kneissl gives up her position on the supervisory board at Rosneft:
she danced with Kremlin boss Putin at her wedding party.
And she earned a lot of money in the service of the Russian gas giant Rosneft.
Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl is now resigning from her post.
13-person tour group in Mallorca in custody:
A German tour group is in Mallorca in custody.
They are said to have been partying on balconies and spilling alcohol before a patio roof caught fire.
The members are silent.
My favorite story today: The Gold Panner
She got pregnant when she was 16, and by the time she was 19 she was working as a maid for a wealthy family.
Francia Márquez is now 40 years old and has a good chance of leading Colombia's left to power for the first time.
I have to admit that I had never read about the woman before I discovered the text by SPIEGEL's Latin America correspondent Jens Glüsing.
What an educational gap!
Márquez is the sensation of the presidential campaign in Colombia.
She is poor, comes from the remote mountains, young people love her.
But the military is against them.
And she must expect to be murdered.
Enlarge image
Running mate Márquez: voice of the excluded
Photo: Federico Rios / The New York Times / Redux / laif
In the primaries of the party alliance Pacto Histórico in March, she came in second place with over 700,000 votes behind leftist Gustavo Petro, who according to all polls is the favorite in the election on May 29.
The ex-guerrillero then appointed the Afro-Colombian as his running mate.
"The dazzling duo could usher in a turning point," writes Glüsing.
"For the first time in the history of a country ravaged by gang wars and drug violence, the left has a real chance of coming to power."
Márquez softens when asked about her political identity.
"I'm neither left nor right, but a woman rooted in the fight for social justice and humane living conditions," she says.
Read the whole story here: She comes from the bottom – and could become vice president
What we recommend at SPIEGEL+ today
The Faeser problem:
Will Interior Minister Nancy Faeser be the SPD's top candidate in Hesse?
The question becomes a burden for the chancellor.
Good candidates are rare - but if he lets them go, the next construction site opens up.
How men and women think about menstruation:
Spain wants to introduce menstrual sick days – but can women even talk about their periods so openly?
A survey shows that we are still a long way from an enlightened society.
"You don't want a piano driving past you":
art student Lukas Esser composed a sound for electric buses.
How to invent a sound that says a lot without being distracting - and why it shouldn't sound like an engine or a spaceship.
Which is less important today
Enlarge image
Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Is old Holzmichl still alive?
And will Manuel Neuer be back in goal for Bayern Munich next year?
As of today, both can be answered with a resounding »yes«.
After months of discussions, the Munich football club has extended the contract with its captain Manuel Neuer, which expires in 2023, by another year.
This means that the 2014 world champion will be in the Munich goal at least until the home European Championship in 2024.
»Manuel Neuer is the best goalkeeper in the world and has been setting international standards for years.
It is an enormous achievement to be able to call up world class so consistently over such a long period of time.
Manuel is one of the defining figures in the history of FC Bayern,” said CEO Oliver Kahn.
Typo of the day
, now corrected: »China has been provoking Taiwan with military maneuvers and reconnaissance flights near the island for months.«
Cartoon of the day:
lateral thinker demo
And tonight?
Read William Golding's famous novel Lord of the Flies again.
Or the book "Basically Good" by the Dutch historian Rutger Bregman.
Both texts are about a group of boys stranded on a remote island in the South Seas and from then on fighting for survival.
Enlarge image
ʻAta is a small, uninhabited island in the south of the Tonga archipelago
Photo: Arne Müseler / arne-mueseler.com / CC BY-SA 3.0
My colleague Arne Molfenter wrote today the real-life story, rediscovered by Bregman, of the six Tonga students who stole a boat and ended up stranded on a deserted island in 1965 (Read his text here).
"We were sure that we would die," recalls Sione Fataua, one of the survivors.
It turned out differently.
"You often hear how people panic and the worst comes to light in emergency situations," says Bregman in an interview with SPIEGEL.
“I think the opposite is usually the case.
This story teaches us that crises often bring out the best in us.
The friendliest among us manage to survive.” Hopefully he's right.
Anna Clauss
wishes you a nice evening
Here you can order the »Situation in the Evening« by e-mail.