Kateryna Tarabukina

Culture manager of international interdisciplinary projects. Curator, researcher, culture guide, lector and mum. Part of @VitscheBerlin

[Sławomir Dębski @SlawomirDebski]

Poland and all NATO Eastern Flank countries have a vital national security interest in not supporting Germany’s position regarding the Nord Stream investigation. In my view, the suspect will not be - and cannot be - extradited, because Nord Stream became a legitimate military target the moment Russia launched its full-scale aggression against Ukraine.

Under Article 65 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Ukrainian citizens have a duty to defend their homeland. They do not need to be formal members of the armed forces to do so. Once they take part in an attack against a legitimate military target, they acquire combatant status under the law of armed conflict. Germany should be well aware of the relevant norm of international law - the principle of levée en masse - which emerged precisely as a result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. During that conflict, French civilians who took up arms to defend their country as part of the national militia (franc-tireurs) were executed by German forces as unlawful combatants. The international community later recognized this as unjust and codified the levée en masse doctrine, granting civilians defending their homeland the rights of lawful combatants. This principle is directly applicable in the case of Ukrainian citizens resisting Russian aggression. Accordingly, any German request for extradition is legally unenforceable, since the law of war prohibits the prosecution of individuals who act in defense of their nation under such circumstances.

But there is a deeper question here: what exactly are the Germans trying to achieve by submitting such a request? Invoking the rule of law in the context of Nord Stream is disingenuous. My hypothesis is this: Germany seeks, in the event of a future Russian attack on the Baltic States or Poland, to secure immunity for infrastructure and joint projects built with Russia during peacetime. In other words, Berlin wants to establish a legal precedent that - although Nord Stream was a Russian-German venture and Russia is now an aggressor - the pipeline cannot be targeted because it is also “German.”

This line of reasoning is dangerous. It undermines NATO’s deterrence posture and increases the risk of war with Russia. Instead of preparing for a renewed “dialogue” with Moscow, Germany should focus on deterring it. Legal maneuvers of this kind only weaken deterrence.

In the case of Nord Stream, the principle of rebus sic stantibus applies: when the fundamental circumstances change - as they did with Russia’s aggression - the nature of the pipeline changes as well. What was once a civilian energy infrastructure becomes a military asset and thus a lawful target. All NATO Eastern Flank countries recognize it as such - and it would be prudent for Germany to do the same.

[Vatnik Soup @P_Kallioniemi]

11 years ago, Russians downed flight MH-17, killing all passengers on board. Never forget.

[Jessica Berlin @berlin_bridge]

📚Tomorrow in Berlin:
Book event for ‘Both Sides Face East’, an anthology of voices from Eastern Europe & beyond giving "a response to the invasion of Ukraine, but staking a wider claim on behalf of human value & integrity.”
With @JuliaSushytska @alisaslaughter1 Ariel Rosé & me

[Voice of Ukraine @newstop_us]

Смерть Джесіки Абер виглядає як одна з тих історій, які мають тихо відійти на другий план — трагічний заголовок, про який люди мають забути. Але коли кар’єрний прокурор, який все життя переслідував російських кіберзлочинців, витоки інформації з ЦРУ та військових злочинців,

[Pødilskě padlø @podilhappymeal]

This is our suits, you dumbasses @brianglenntv @JDVance

[Volodymyr Yermolenko @yermolenko_v]

Europeans need to learn from Ukrainians how to resist an enemy that is physically stronger. Americans need to learn from Ukrainians how to resist dictators and defend democracy when it is difficult

[Jessica Berlin @berlin_bridge]

Don’t blame Trump for Europe’s failure to defend Ukraine.

[Wojciech Konończuk @W_Kononczuk]

It is no coincidence that Russia's MFA statement after the Lavrov-Rubio phone call starts by the expectation that sanctions "inherited from the previous administration" should be lifted.

Clear signal that sanctions works and that Russia is weaker than many think.

[Vatnik Soup @P_Kallioniemi]

Lavrov and Rubio allegedly had a phone call, in which they agreed to 'remove barriers that have hindered mutually beneficial trade, economic and investment cooperations.'

In other words, the US will lift Russia sanctions and help Russia fund its war against Ukraine and later Europe. Russia's war is now being funded by China and India, and America will soon join them.

[Lena Berger @lena4berger]

3⃣ MV als „Vorposten des Kreml“

Doch all das verkommt beinahe zur Randnotiz angesichts der von den Autoren sehr genau rekonstruierten Vorgänge, die sich in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern abspielen.

Matthias Warnig und sein Netzwerk aus ehemaligen Stasi-Spitzeln führen die Geschäfte im Firmenkonstrukt der Pipelines. Die Manager gehen in der Schweriner Staatskanzlei, in Landesministerien und untergeordneten Behörden jahrelang ein und aus. Ihr Geschäftsgebaren erinnert zuweilen an eine Mafia-Organisation. Von oberster politischer Ebene erhalten sie Flankenschutz.

Ministerpräsident Erwin Sellering organisiert mit überbordendem Tatendrang die ersten Russlandtage und weitere Lobbyveranstaltungen. Direktkontakte in Putins St. Petersburger Milieu sind ihm wichtig. Die Realisierung der Pipeline-Projekte wird zielstrebig vorangetrieben, unliebsame Gesetzesvorgaben zu Betriebssicherheit und Umweltschutz werden ausgehebelt. Dabei zeigen etliche Regierungsvertreter und Behördenmitarbeiter ungewöhnliche Kreativität. In Berlin entsteht die Sprachregelung eines „rein privatwirtschaftlichen Projekts“.

Manuela Schwesig, die das Amt der Landesfürstin von Mecklenburg-Vorpommern als Sprungbrett zur Kanzlerschaft ansieht, übernimmt 2017 das von ihrem Vorgänger über den Pipelines konstruierte Lügen- und Korruptionsgebäude. Es ist auf einem Sumpf errichtet, dennoch fast schlüsselfertig. Lediglich lästige Sanktionsandrohungen aus Washington stehen der Fertigstellung noch im Weg. Um US-Sanktionen zu entgehen, wird mit einiger krimineller Energie die berüchtigte Klimastiftung ins Leben gerufen.

Die provinziellen Ereignisse gipfeln in einer Groteske, die einer der Autoren bereits vor einiger Zeit durch investigative Recherchen aufgedeckt hat: Eine Finanzbeamtin lässt eine Steuererklärung der Stiftung im Kaminfeuer verschwinden.

Doch die Geschichte macht Schwesig und der Vollendung von Nord Stream 2 einen Strich durch die Rechnung. Putins Großangriff auf die Ukraine beginnt. Kurz darauf erleuchtet das Schweriner Schloss in blau und gelb…

[Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk @IlkoKowalczuk]

1/Der ukrainische Ministerpräsident Arsenij Jazenjuk sagte im Frühsommer 2014: Mit Nord Stream gehe es nicht nur um Gas. „Dies ist ein großer Plan zur Zerstörung der Ukraine.“ (S. 95) Die beiden Journalisten @steffendobbert und Ulrich Thiele haben in diesen Tagen eine Reportage

[Kateryna Tarabukina @BerlinbyKate]

"Leaders of 500 million Europe expect 340 million Americans to protect them from 140 million Russians who cannot defeat 30 million Ukrainians in three years." (c)

[Kate from Kharkiv @BohuslavskaKate]

"The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome for a negotiated settlement."- Hegseth said.

He also added that Ukraine will not return to the 1991 borders, it is unrealistic.

In Ukraine right now, it feels as though we are being plunged into an abyss without any safety net.

[vitsche_berlin @VitscheBerlin]

1/ In Berlin läuft gerade eine Werbekampagne eines russischen Exil-Mediums, die den Schmerz und das Leid der Ukrainer:innen instrumentalisiert – um damit ein Medium zu bewerben, das angeblich „vertrauenswürdige Nachrichten“ liefert.

[Ethan Mollick @emollick]

Here is a single-video compilation of all the video games done in TV/film genres that I created over the past few days

The end has a list of all the games & genres, if you want to try to guess which is which

All of this was done in Veo 2 via text prompting, usually in 2-3 tries

[Богдан Гдаль @viterzbayraku]

- Як ти?
- Та нічого. Живу, працюю )

[Kateryna Tarabukina @BerlinbyKate]

@hayvibouzo @KareemRifai Russians absolutely legitimate without any doubts elected Putin. Just like Germans voted for Hitler. No one occupied Russia. It is the way how russians want to live. This your bullshit leave for westerns. We all know the truth, darling ;)

[Kateryna Tarabukina @BerlinbyKate]

#FreeSyria #HumanRights #Syria

[Nedal Al-Amari 🇸🇾 @nedalalamari]

It was a massive celebration in the German capital, Berlin. Everyone was crying with joy.

[Sergej Sumlenny, LL.M @sumlenny]

Too many German politicians will never forgive Ukraine that their Gazprom job offers were either recalled or not even made.