Warcrimes

Currently, the hospital accommodates about 300 children of all ages. Halyna, the medical director of the clinic, takes us on a tour of the hospital and emotionally recounts the first months of the cruel war. In the corridors, we see full water tanks as the hospital prepares for future crisis situations. We are led to the maternity ward to see the smallest patients in the hospital. We ask if we may photograph and document, and all agree, smiling sadly at us. Sirens in Kyiv sound several times a day, prompting many of the young patients to be moved.

Until recently, I was planning to publish my new article about the sacralization of women in Ukrainian society with different words, but having already completed my text and worked on my editing, I was scrolling through the feed on Instagram and came across a poem from my close friend Artur Dron. It was writing published a few minutes ago. Until February 24, Artur was just a student and wrote poetry, even publishing his own collection "Wohnhein Nr. 6". Now Arthur is at war. He protects the motherland.

A woman is a writer, volunteer and doctor. A woman is a teacher, an artist and avenger. A woman is a human rights defender and an innovator. A woman is a scientist. A woman is a singer and an actress. A woman is a postman. Ultimately a woman is a warrior.

“We are faced with a choice between slavery and freedom. We choose freedom!" said Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in the German Bundestag back in 1952. His words are to be understood in the context of the world situation between East and West at this time. It was about Germany's status back then. Which side of the Iron Curtain does Germany want to be on? On February 27, 2023 and 71 years after Adenauer's words, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation chose this sentence for a packed program of events in the heart of Berlin.

In the past four weeks, Russia has increasingly targeted Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. Including combined heat and power plants and water supply. The result is that large parts of the country are repeatedly cut off from electricity and water. In the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the supply of electricity and water is now rationed. Both are only available part of the time and people's fear of winter is palpable. The situation is similar in large parts of the country. How will it go on?

The calendar is set to Monday 12 September 2022, right after I get up I open  Instagram, today that means more than 8 years and 200 days Ukraine resists its  aggressive neighbour. So I slowly open Instagram this morning, the feed takes a  long time to load the content, almost seems like it's trying to hide from me all the  new things I've missed lately.