Theatrical reading about the war and political prisoners “Ukraine, 5 am” will be held in Berlin  

The texts for reading were based on the documentary playCrimea, 5 am” by Ukrainian playwrights Natalia Vorozhbyt and Anastasia Kosodii.

Excerpts from the play illustrate the situation with human rights and persecution, especially against the Crimean Tatar population in Crimea under the Russian occupation regime. The picture is supplemented by current contributions from the war diary by the theatre dramaturge Pavlo Arie.       

Even then, in the temporarily occupied territories, the invaders set a course for the Putin regime’s authoritarian, imperialist and anti-people policies, which were systematically implemented in the years that followed.    

This time, the artists are reimagining the work in the context of a full-scale Russian attack on the territory of Ukraine, which began eight years ago with Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and occupation of eastern Ukraine. Even then, in the temporarily occupied territories, the invaders set a course for the Putin regime’s authoritarian, imperialist and anti-people policies, which were systematically implemented in the years that followed.    

The following will be discussed in a panel discussion:  

  • Was the current major war only the logical consequence of the prelude in Crimea and the Donbas?   
  • How does the experience of violence change people and society?    
  • How can the experience of war be communicated to Europe and how can the solidarity of European civil society be preserved?   

The participants of the discussion:    

  • Ellen Ueberschär, Executive Board of the Heinrich Böll Foundation  
  • Alim Aliev, Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Institute, Kyiv    
  • Tetiana Pechonchyk, head of board of Center for Human rights ZMINA, Kyiv
  • Miriam Kosmehl, Senior Expert (Eastern Europe), Bertelsmann Foundation, Berlin 
  • Johannes Voswinkel, Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation Ukraine, Kyiv/ Berlin  

The event will take place on May 23, 2022, at 8 pm Kyiv time, at the Beletage Concert Center of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin. Staged reading will be in German; panel discussion in German and English.   

Readings and discussion can be viewed online on the Heinrich Böll Foundation YouTube channel in German and English.

The project is a cooperation between the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Ukrainian Institute, the Deutsches Theater Berlin, the Dokumentartheater Berlin and the European Academy Berlin.    

In 2021, the documentary play “Crimea, 5 a.m.” was shown in Kyiv and Warsaw.