The Moment is Now

Helping Ukraine Through This Winter of War

The infamy is still increasing. After Putin’s plan to militarily disinti­grate Ukraine and to annihilate it as an independent nation failed, because of the deter­mined resis­tance, carried out by Ukrainian society as a whole, now the country is to be brought to its knees by destroying vital supply structures,
especially the power supply.

The methods of a war of annihi­lation against the civilian population, tested in Chechnya and Syria, with Grozny and Aleppo as an example, are now being applied to a free Ukraine as a whole. The bombing of housing quarters, the targeted destruction of the living condi­tions of millions of people, the assas­si­nation of civilians, rapes and depor­ta­tions, are already viola­tions of the Genocide Convention of the United Nations.

Now, winter is coming. One can already see what it means when heating, light and electrical appli­ances aren’t working anymore, when there is no drinking water, windows cannot be replaced, when cities are sinking into darkness, schools and kinder­gartens have to close, hospitals can’t treat their patients and companies have to close down. Since the renewed Russian assault, already more than 14 million people had to leave their homes, millions more are to be forced to flee.

If Putin succeeded in causing the collapse of Ukraine, it could also desta­bilize the European security order, the European Union and the transat­lantic alliance. No country within the former influence sphere of the Soviet Union would be safe anymore, it would give a boost to anti-democ­ratic forces, and Inter­na­tional Law would be in ruins.

For that reason, supporting the Ukrainian civilian and military resis­tance is not only a moral oblig­ation, it is also in our very own interest.

How can we contribute to Ukraine getting through this winter?

• Everyone can donate for Ukraine.
• Human­i­tarian agencies can increase their support for Ukraine.
• Cities can provide bilateral support for Ukrainian partner cities.
• Companies can provide vital technical support, like gener­ators, vehicles, building materials and fuel.
• The federal government and the EU need to increase their financial and military aid: Ukraine requires urgent emergency aid and, no less urgent, modern weapons to protect its cities and to push back the invading troops.

On 10 December, we celebrate the Intern­tional Human Rights Day, to honour the adoption and procla­mation of the Universal Decla­ration of Human Rights on that day in 1948. These days, we are especially thinking about the people fighting for their dignity and their freedom in Ukraine and also in Iran.
We want to follow up on the wave of solidarity that swept through our country after the beginning of the Russian invasion. Munic­i­pal­ities, the media, founda­tions, care organ­i­sa­tions, companies, cultural
insti­tutes and hundreds of thousands of citizens have reacted to what appeared to be the unthinkable since the end of the Second World War. We need to revive this spirit of solidarity, regardless of all the hardships we are facing. Nothing would be more dangerous for Ukraine than a gradually increasing weariness of the Western public and politics.

Putin’s catastrophic strategy may not bear fruits! The slogan „For our and for your freedom“, as quoted by Nobel Peace Price laureate Oleksandra Matvi­ichuk, also applies the other way round: „For your and our freedom!“

Donations

should best be made to one of the existing initia­tives or into the national donation fund UNITED24, estab­lished by Volodymyr Zelenskyy: https://u24,gov.ua/

Initial signa­tories:

Swetlana Alexi­je­w­itsch, Aleida Assmann, Jan Assmann, Martin Aust, Rüdiger Bachmann, Gerhart Baum, Marieluise Beck, Christoph Becker, Jan C. Behrends, Pamela Biermann, Wolf Biermann, Marianne Birthler, Helene v. Bismarck, Werner Bohleber, Christoph Buch, Detlev Claussen, Dany Cohn-Bendit, Dan Diner, Sabine Döring, Tom Enders, Benno Ennker, Bianka Pietrow-Ennker, Sabine Fischer, Rüdiger v. Fritsch, Ralf Fücks, Durs Grünbein, Irene Hahn-Fuhr, Rebecca Harms, Andreas Heinemann-Grüder, Ulrike Herrmann, Richard Herzinger, Christoph Heusgen, Wolfgang Ischinger, Andreas Kappeler, Daniel Kehlmann, Gerald Knaus, Gerd Koenen, John Kornblum, Remko Leemhuis, Claus Leggewie, Anna Leszczynska, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnar­ren­berger, Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber, Renate Liesmann-Baum, Wolf Lotter, Carlo Masala, Markus Meckel, Eva Menasse, Herta Müller, Jan Plamper, Ruprecht Polenz, Katharina Raabe, Jens Reich, Eva Reich, Hedwig Richter, Thomas Roth, Manfred Sapper, Gwendolyn Sasse, Stefanie Schiffer, Karl Schlögel, Peter Schneider, Bruno Schoch, Ulrich Schreiber, Richard Schröder, Martin Schulze Wessel, Linn Selle, Constanze Stelzenmüller, Sebastian Turner, Andreas Umland, Gert Weisskirchen, Michael Zürn