Russian invasion of Ukraine: War in Ukraine – we take a closer look
taz lab Warm-Up: A talk with Ukrainians in their home country and in exile about the current situation and possible help.
What can be done to help civil society in Ukraine? Foto: Alexei Alexandrov
The Russian attack on Ukraine began on February 24th. In the following months Putin's troops razed Ukrainian cities like Mariupol, Bucha and Irpin to the ground.
As research by journalists from Ukraine, the US, the UK, Germany and Russia shows, Russian soldiers tortured and executed civilians, raped women and abducted children to Russia. After the Russian army failed to occupy the Ukrainian capital Kyjiw, their military attack on the eastern Ukrainian region Donbass began on April 18th.
In this situation, the German daily newspaper taz would like to let people from Ukraine and exiled Ukrainian have their say. We are interested in questions like: What does this civil society need right now? What can be done to help the victims of this war? How is Ukraine changing under the pressure of this war?
How does journalism work in the context of war? How do activists and journalists view German politics? Why are Ukrainian demonstrators excluded from demonstrations in Germany? What can taz readers do?
There will be a discussion in the livestream with:
Anton Dorokh is a Ukrainian director, artist and activist. He is the co-founder of Vitsche Berlin, a community of young Ukrainian activists which organise protests, cultural and educational events.
Diana Berg is an activist and artist from Mariupol. There she founded the queer cultural center Platform TU.
Oleksandra Bienert from the Alliance of Ukrainian Organisations, has been involved for Ukrainians in Berlin for years.
Katerina Sergatskova is the co-founder and CEO of Zaborona Media in Ukraine. She worked as a war-correspondent in Eastern Ukraine over 2014-15, covering the conflict from both sides and wrote for Ukrainian and international media. Later, she reported on the Russian-speaking fighters who fought for Islamic State and other radical groups. In addition taz recently published Sergatskovas text on the role of Ukrainian journalists for the Western European public. The taz is currently supporting Zaborona with a solidarity campaign.
As far as the circumstances of the war allow us Yelena Suvorova from Ukraine will join us spontaneously:
Yelena Suvorova is a geography and economics teacher from Kharkiv and is still in the city.
Moderation:
Anastasia Tikhomirova is a freelance journalist as well as taz lab editor. She studies anti-Semitism research at TU Berlin and cultural studies at Humboldt University.
Daniel Schulz leads the department reportage and research of the taz together with Sabine Seifert. His novel "Wir waren wie Brüder" has just been published by Hanser Berlin.
The event will be conducted in German and English.
Appeal for donations: The organisation tu.mariupol helps people in Mariupol. Support tu.mariupol with a monetary donation. You can donate via the following PayPal address: tu.mariupol@gmail.com. Alternatively, you can find bank transfer accounts at vitsche.org/en/donate.
In the week leading up to the taz lab, we are getting in the mood for the taz congress "Climate, Class, War" on April 30th 2022 with 4 talks. You can find the congress programme here and get tickets at tazlab.de/tickets. Join uns online or directly at the taz in Berlin!
Would you like to submit questions for this taz lab warm-up in advance? Or give feedback after the stream? Write to us! We look forward to receiving your mail: tazlab@taz.de
