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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered an address to Congress from Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday morning to ask the U.S. for further assistance in his country’s fight against Russia, reports the New York Times. Zelenksyy said,  “I call on you to do more.” In the address, Zelenskyy pleaded for American leaders to consider enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukrainian airspace, saying “I have a dream. I have a need to protect the sky.” The Ukrainian president also offered an alternative request if a no-fly zone was “too much to ask.” Zelenksyy asked for the U.S. to supply Ukraine with more advanced air defense systems and combat aircraft to fight Russian forces so that Ukrainian forces could enforce a no-fly zone themselves. 

Russian forces attacked and destroyed a TV tower in the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, writes CNN. At 4 a.m. local time, witnesses heard aircraft and two explosions in the area. Russian rocket fire disabled the city’s broadcasting facilities and capabilities. The Vinnytsia tower is the latest in a series of Russian efforts to destroy communications towers like in other cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv and Vynarivka. 21 casualties were reported as a result of the attack. 

The U.S. Senate unanimously voted to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, according to Reuters. The bipartisan resolution was introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham and urged the International Criminal Court in The Hague and other countries to focus investigations of war crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Russian military. Sen. Chuck Schumer said of the resolution, “All of us in this chamber joined together, with Democrats and Republicans, to say that Vladimir Putin cannot escape accountability for the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian people.”

The Russian government announced sanctions on President Biden and multiple other senior officials and figureheads, reports the Washington Post. In addition to Biden, Moscow sanctioned Secretary Antony Blinken, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Hillary Clinton and Secretary Lloyd Austin, among others. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the sanctions on Democratic officials were in retaliation for “extremely Russophobic” actions taken by the Biden administration by issuing an onslaught of sanctions on Russia. 

A Fox News cameraman and Ukrainian journalist were killed amidst fighting in Ukraine, writes the New York Times. Pierre Zakrzewski and Oleksandra Kuvshynova were killed by gunfire just outside of Kyiv. The director general of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization condemned the attack that killed the journalists, saying “Journalists have a critical role in providing information during a conflict, and should never be targeted. I call for the respect of international humanitarian standards, to ensure that journalists and media workers are protected.” Another American journalist, Brent Renaud, was also shot and killed last weekend while reporting in a Kyiv suburb. 

The United Nations Security Council voted to extend its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan for a year, according to the Associated Press. In a 13-0 vote with abstentions from Russia and China, the U.N. Security Council extended the mandate for their 19,000 peacekeeping forces to stay in South Sudan, and also demanded that violence and fighting cease in the country. The Security Council also encouraged political dialogue in South Sudan to help prevent it from returning to civil war. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas Greenfield said that the newly approved resolution reinforces the mission’s mandate to “protect civilians, support delivery of humanitarian assistance, monitor and investigate human rights and support the peace process.”

A 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit just off the coast of Fukushima, Japan, reports CNN. A tsunami advisory was issued after the earthquake. The alert warned of tsunami heights that reach 1 meter above normal tidal levels. Fukushima prefecture was also the site of a 2011 earthquake that resulted in disaster at a nearby nuclear power plant. 

The U.S. Senate unanimously voted to make daylight saving time permanent in the United States, writes the Hill. If the resolution is also passed by the House and signed by President Biden into law, Americans would never again need to set their clocks back in the fall and winter and lose an hour of daylight in the afternoon. The legislation was introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, who spoke on the Senate floor about some of the benefits of making daylight saving time permanent. Rubio said, “the benefits of daylight saving time has been accounted for in the research: Reduced crime as there is light later in the day, decrease in seasonal depression that many feel during standard time and the practical one.” 

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Jen Patja Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Benjamin Wittes sat down with Roger Parloff to discuss recent developments in the prosecutions of Jan. 6 Capitol riot defendants. 

Quinta Jurecic explained how the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act is a cautionary tale about what can go wrong with reforms of Section 230. 

Jane Bambauer argued that courts should craft a narrow form of tort liability that would apply to leaders of online radicalized networks when their persistent communications cause a member of the group to commit an act of violence.

Jordan Schneider shared an episode of ChinaTalk in which he and Noah Barkin discuss if Germany’s policy changes towards Russia have a knock-on effect on its attitude toward China. 

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