Russia's War in Ukraine

Ukraine expert Winfried Schneider-Deters intervenes in the debate on Russia's war against Ukraine with three timely essays, written during the winter of war in Kyiv in 2022 / 2023. He critically discusses the ambivalent reception of Russian aggression not only in German society. Calls by intellectuals to stop arms deliveries and to negotiate and compromise with the aggressor are, in effect, calls for surrender; in the author's view, their signatories are thus making themselves into Putin's "useful idiots." Schneider-Deters points out the parallels between Putin and Hitler and analyzes the Russian "Weimar syndrome" after the collapse of the Soviet Union as well as the roots of the current, specifically Russian fascism, the "Rushism". He also gives a detailed account of the crimes committed by Russia's armed forces in Ukraine under international law. The International Criminal Court in The Hague does not have jurisdiction over the crime of aggression, the "supreme international crime"; Schneider-Deters discusses the possible steps to create a new international tribunal along the lines of the Nuremberg trials, a "Nuremberg II", in order to be able to hold the aggressor Putin criminally responsible.

Winfried Schneider-Deters studied economics at Heidelberg University. Since 2004 he is retired and works as a free lance author in Heidelberg, Germany and Kiev / Kyiv, Ukraine. Previously Schneider-Deters directed national and regional projects of FRIEDRICH EBERT STIFTUNG (FES) in LATIN AMERICA; EAST and CENTRAL ASIA, and in the SOUTH CAUCASUS. From 1996 to 2000 he was head of the cooperation office of the FES in Kyiv, Ukraine. His previous books include UKRAINE – POWER VACUUM BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE EUROPEAN UNION, BWV, Berlin 2012 and UKRAINE’s FATEFUL YEARS 2013 - 2019, BWV, Berlin 2022 . His papers have been published by, among others, OSTEUROPA, NEUE GESELLDSCHAFT, UKRAINE ANALYSEN, THE EUROPEAN and EUROMAIDAN PRESS.

“Winfried Schneider-Deters is one of the best German experts on Ukraine with an impressive publishing record and deep knowledge not only of the foreign and domestic politics of the country, but also of daily Ukrainian life. This book is a meticulous analysis of the German public debate of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine since February 2022. It should be of interest not only to German, Ukrainian, and Russian readers, but also to all those who wonder about the current state and future course of Germany's relations to Eastern Europe." —Dr Andreas Umland, Analyst, Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Stockholm