Modern weapons instead of historical war equipment
It was a week dominated by the Leopard decision.
What the delivery of battle tanks means for Ukraine and for Olaf Scholz's chancellorship is the cover story in the new SPIEGEL.
My colleague Christoph Reuter has been on the road in Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, for the past few days.
There he hardly saw anywhere the modern Western weapons, of which Ukraine has already received quite a few.
Rather, he experienced the reality of a battle
more reminiscent of the First World War than of the 21st century
in its relentlessness and its enormous loss of life and war material .
Sometimes she is also beaten with weapons that come from completely different times.
Reuter saw a 57-millimeter caliber cannon from the end of World War II mounted on a truck from the 1960s.
The front around Bakhmut shows
how dependent Ukraine is on military aid from the West
.
True, the Ukrainian military has modernized its arsenal.
But the wear and tear in the war is so great that the Ukrainians are forced to defend themselves against the Russian attackers, some with ancient equipment.
In this text from the current SPIEGEL cover, several of my colleagues analyze what the leopards are actually bringing to Ukraine:
Modern weapon systems instead of historical war equipment: hope made of steel
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
The growing cemetery of the Wagner mercenaries:
Russia's notorious Wagner group is apparently recording high losses: satellite images show the rapid expansion of a cemetery.
Of the recruits from prisons, only a fifth are said to be in action.
Ukraine summons Hungarian ambassador:
Relations between neighboring countries are tense – Now the Hungarian ambassador to Ukraine has to answer for statements made by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Kyiv does not rule out further measures.
“Putin is perfectly capable of using nuclear weapons.
The question is what he gets out of it«:
How big is the risk for the West after the tank decision?
The Russia expert and former US government adviser Angela Stent on the German supplies to Kyiv and the mistakes in dealing with Moscow.
Olaf Scholz in Latin America
On Monday in Brasília, the Chancellor will meet a returnee to world politics: Brazilian President
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
, better known as Lula.
After the victory over Jair Bolsonaro and the coup attempt by his supporters, Lula is primarily concerned with domestic politics.
But as a veteran of international politics
, we can count on him again in the future
.
Much is expected of him, especially in Latin America, where the left has returned to power in many places.
During his first two terms in office, he acted as mediator in many international conflicts.
As far as the Ukraine war is concerned,
however, Scholz can hardly expect any support from Lula
.
It is true that he has already been brought into play as an intermediary.
But after Lula condemned the Russian invasion last year while blaming the West for complicity, he may have positioned himself too clearly for such a role.
Scholz starts a Latin American tour at the weekend, which will take him first to Argentina and then to Chile and finally Brazil.
It should also be about a
free trade agreement between the EU and the South American Mercosur countries
, which is in place after 20 years of negotiations, but has been on hold for years due to concerns about the consequences for the environment and climate.
Lula's assumption of office in Brazil: The return of the reconciler
Fear for Israel's democratic constitutional state
The only democracy in the Middle East, Israel, faces crucial weeks - and there is a real risk that the country may soon cease to be a democracy.
Around a hundred thousand people took to the streets in Tel Aviv this week against the right-wing authoritarian government of Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist coalition partners.
Many of them come from the extreme right-wing spectrum and they want to restructure the state according to their ideas.
"The most impressive victim of their project could be the independent judiciary, a central feature of every democracy," write Julia Amalia Heyer and Felix Rettberg in their report.
The Supreme Court is to be weakened, the separation of powers is to be abolished and Parliament is to be able to overrule every judgment with a simple majority in the future.
Nationwide demonstrations are expected again on Saturday.
Read the background here:
State crisis in Israel: "Forward to the Middle Ages"
On Friday evening, the country experienced the worst terrorist attack in a long time: an attack in the Israeli settlement of Neve Yaakov in East Jerusalem left at least seven dead and several injured.
An attacker opened fire on visitors to a synagogue on the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust.
He was eventually killed himself by security forces.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day: Attacker kills seven people in Jerusalem
A NATO general or a billionaire?
The Czechs will elect their new president
at the weekend
.
You have the choice between a populist billionaire and a pro-Western ex-general.
Billionaire
Andrej Babiš
was the country's prime minister until a year ago and was always surrounded by scandals.
He caused an uproar during the election campaign by questioning the country's NATO commitments and unwilling to stand by Poland and the Baltics in the event of a Russian attack - after an outcry he said he had been misunderstood.
Former NATO general
Petr Pavel
, on the other hand, promises order, stability and security, and he also wants to keep the country clearly on a western course in the EU and NATO.
According to polls, Pavel is well ahead of Babiš in the race for Prague Castle.
Polling stations close at 2 p.m. today.
Here's the current quiz of the day
The starting question today: Who was not among the founding members of the USSR?
loser of the day...
…is the former Secretary of Defense Christine Lambrecht
.
One shouldn't step in, but this report by colleagues from the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" has it all: Most of the Bundeswehr's stocks that were delivered to the Ukraine were not replaced, although money was available for them - the replacement was not even made requested.
With military support for Ukraine, the few functioning parts of the Bundeswehr were severely weakened.
It was delivered for more than a billion euros, but the Ministry of Defense reordered for only around 50 million euros.
In any case, the new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has a major task ahead of him: to repair the ailing troops.
And it is no wonder and certainly also the truth when Pistorius says
that the 100 billion euros from the special fund will not be enough to
turn the Bundeswehr into a functioning army again.
The latest news from the night
Teachers' associations are outraged by expert recommendations:
Germany lacks thousands of teachers.
On behalf of the Minister of Education, a committee has drawn up proposals on how to compensate for the shortage, including "mindfulness training" in the event of stress at work.
The reaction: anger.
Leipzig's Szoboszlai decides the game against weak Stuttgart:
At the start of the second half of the Bundesliga season, RB Leipzig beat VfB Stuttgart 2-1 at home.
The Swabians made it too easy for RB with individual mistakes and woke up late after a goal from the penalty spot.
Miley Cyrus breaks Spotify record:
More than 96 million streams in one week: The pop singer Miley Cyrus set a new record on the Spotify platform with her song "Flowers".
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
This Ukrainian colonel intercepts Russian drones in front of Kiev:
his combat name is Skif, he does 200 push-ups before breakfast, his soldiers fear and love him.
If his unit lets an attacker through, people in the capital are in mortal danger.
How tech giants from China want to conquer European cities:
The dream of autonomous driving is gradually becoming a reality in China and the USA.
Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes have little to oppose the powerful alliances there.
Will they be demoted to pure suppliers?
How recreational investigators stop Nazis:
A new scene of Nazi hunters has formed.
Well camouflaged, they follow right-wing extremists online and reveal the identities of ringleaders that the state often cannot find.
At your own risk.
»My worst and toughest job ever.
I would never do it again«:
Doing good and earning a lot of money quickly: fundraising agencies offer meaningful jobs.
But ex-workers also report pressure to perform, hatred on the street and manipulative conversational techniques.
I wish you a good start into the day.
Yours sincerely, Mathieu von Rohr, head of the SPIEGEL international department