Today’s Headlines and Commentary

Click to subscribe to receive this directly to your inbox.

Three cities in central and western Ukraine were bombed by Russian forces, reports the New York Times. The cities of Dnipro, Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk suffered bombings Friday morning that caused fires, destoryed several buildings and forced residents to evacuate their homes. The bombings are the first major attacks by the Russians on all three cities. 

The 40 mile-long convoy of Russian military vehicles headed toward Kyiv dispersed and repositioned its personnel to various cities around the capital, writes the Washington Post. Satellite images released by Maxar Technologies indicate that Russian personnel have been redeployed along tree lines in towns such as Berestyanka, Ivankiv and Lubyanka near Kyiv. The troops reportedly have set up towed artillery in firing positions. U.S. and U.K. defense officials suspect that Russia is “creeping” toward an attack on Kyiv, 

The U.N. Security Council met at the request of Russia to discuss the Kremlin’s claims that the U.S. is operating biological warfare labs in Ukraine, according to Reuters. Russia has reportedly been making this baseless claim for several years. A spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations warned that the accusations made by Russia may be a false flag effort by the Kremlin to justify a potential biological or chemical weapons attack in Ukraine. The spokesperson added, “We’re not going to let Russia get away with gaslighting.” U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that Russia is “inventing false pretexts in an attempt to justify its own horrific actions in Ukraine."

Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Romania to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to defending NATO allies, reports CNN. Harris met with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis reportedly to reassure him and other Romanian officials that the U.S. will uphold the responsibility of protecting NATO territory if a member nation is subjected to an attack from an aggressor such as Russia. In a press conference after the meeting, Harris said “We take seriously and are prepared to act on the words we speak when we say an attack against one is an attack against all …. We are firm in our commitment. When I say and we say over and over again, President Joe Biden says: We will defend every inch of NATO territory.” 

Former President Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn appeared before the House select committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol, writes Politico. Flynn is suspected to have encouraged Trump to declare martial law and illegally seize voting machines in his final weeks in office as part of an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. When Flynn appeared before the committee, he pleaded the Fifth Amendment's privilege against self-incrimination to all of the committee’s questions. 

The suicide of a Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police officer injured in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack was ruled a line-of-duty death, according to the New York Times. A retirement board determined that Officer Jeffrey Smith’s death was the direct result of a head injury sustained during the attack. Smith’s widow claims that the injury triggered a deep depression in Smith that was the “sole and direct cause” of his suicide. On the day he was supposed to return to work at the Capitol, Smith shot and killed himself with his service weapon. The ruling marks the first time in the history of Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department that an officer’s suicide has been deemed a line-of-duty death. 

The Senate passed a spending package that allocates $1.5 trillion to keep the federal government open and $13.6 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, reports NPR. The legislation was approved by the House on Wednesday, and includes a 5.6 percent increase in defense spending and an 6.7 percent increase for non-defense spending over current levels. The spending package now awaits the signature of President Biden. 

The Biden administration accused North Korea of conducting tests for parts of a new intercontinental ballistic missile, writes the Washington Post. North Korea recently conducted two ballistic missile tests that were allegedly smaller tests of parts of one new, larger missile system that U.S. intelligence suspects North Korea will try to disguise as a space launch. Senior U.S. intelligence officials described the acquisition of the new missile as a “serious escalation” of the North Korean weapons program that has the potential to threaten U.S. cities. 

The Islamic State announced it has a new leader: Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, according to the New York Times. The announcement of the new leader was posted to Islamic State social media accounts one month after the killing of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi by U.S. forces. Little information is currently known by the public about the background of the new leader. 

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Jen Patja Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Evelyn Douek and Quinta Jurecic spoke with Alex Stamos about how various platforms, from Twitter to TikTok and Telegram, are moderating the content coming out of Russia and Ukraine right now. 

Chris Carpenter analyzed the increase of the use of digital evidence in the prosecutions of the Jan. 6 rioters. 

David Priess shared an episode of the Chatter Podcast in which he sat down with Toomas Ilves to discuss his parents' experience fleeing wartime Estonia as Russians, the 2007 cyberattacks on Estonia, and why the new Russian invasion of Ukraine has (so far) lacked a major cyber warfare element.

Jaime Lopez and Brady Worthington examined the extent and limits of the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction over the conflict in Ukraine. 

Alvaro Marañon posted the indictment of Ukrainian national Yaroslav Vasinskyi—a key member of the REvil ransomware group—for his alleged involvement in a variety of cyber crimes.

Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.