Ukraine War

• Ukraine says Russia bombed a theater in Mariupol where over 1,000 women and children were sheltering, even though the Russian word for “children” was written prominently on the ground outside as an indication that civilian kids were inside (that’s significant because knowingly targeting civilians is a war crime). Luckily, most of those sheltering inside were in the bomb shelter and survived as the theater above them was destroyed.
• Russian missiles also struck an airport building in the western city of Lviv, which had been a safe waypoint for Ukrainians fleeing violence in other parts of the country. The airstrike appears to have targeted Ukrainian military operations rather than fleeing civilians, though: that airport is the only place in Ukraine that can refurbish the Air Force’s MiG-29s.
• Ukraine launched a series of counteroffensive operations designed to deter Russian attacks on Kyiv, including an airstrike on Kherson’s airport that currently serves as a Russian air base.
• Pres. Zelensky hurriedly signed a law legalizing cryptocurrency in Ukraine. Ukraine has reportedly raised over $63 million in cryptocurrency donations since the war started three weeks ago, and this law will help simplify those transfers.

End Game

• The Financial Times offered more clarity on a possible Ukraine-Russia peace deal: Russia may agree to withdraw its troops and implement a ceasefire if Ukraine remains neutral (i.e., outside of NATO) and limits its military ambitions. I’m not sure when talks will continue.

International View

• Russia claimed it paid the $117 million it owed in bond interest payments due Wednesday, seemingly avoiding a default that would’ve pushed the Russian economy further into the abyss. However, it made most of the “payments” in a tricky way—by pledging them from Russia’s frozen foreign assets—in order to put the onus on the U.S. to release the funds: “We have the money, we made the payment, now the ball is in America’s court.”
• Biden still hasn’t responded to Pres. Zelensky’s request for S-300 air defense systems, but Slovakia stepped in and offered to send its S-300 system to Ukraine…if NATO can replace it (it’s the only strategic air defense system Slovakia has). The U.S. declined to pledge a replacement for Slovakia—I’m guessing out of concern for how Russia would react.
• Pres. Biden will speak with Pres. Xi of China today—apparently for the first time since November—and reportedly plans to tell Xi that China will be held accountable for anything it does to support Russia’s war in Ukraine. China and Russia both maintain that Russia hasn’t asked for any military help, but U.S. analysts think Russia has—and believe China is preparing to agree to send support.
• The UN’s International Court of Justice ruled 13-2 against Russia’s allegations that Ukraine had committed genocide against Russian speakers in the pro-Russian eastern territories of Donetsk and Luhansk, shutting down the pretext Russia used for its invasion of Ukraine. The two dissenting judges were, naturally, from Russia and China.
• Japan’s defense ministry said it tracked four large Russian troop and truck transport ships heading in the general direction of Ukraine. Russian ships don’t usually pass so close to Japanese territory; Japan speculated they were in a hurry.

China

• Newly unsealed files showed the “outrageous” lengths Chinese state agents went to spy on its critics in the U.S.—including efforts to undermine a U.S. military veteran running for Congress and a plan to destroy the works of a U.S.-based Chinese artist who criticized his home government in Beijing. A BBC article pasted below has more.

Afghanistan

• The UN voted to (re)establish a formal presence in Afghanistan with a one-year political mission focused on aid delivery. The resolution didn’t mention the Taliban, which suggests the UN will continue to avoid formally recognizing the Taliban government and hold its nose while dispensing much-needed aid.

Yemen

• A UN pledging conference aimed to raise $4.3 billion for famine relief in Yemen, but pledge-weary donors only came up with $1.2 billion. UN SecGen Guterres chided donors for being distracted by the war in Ukraine.

Other News

• The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate from 0.25% to 0.50%, and said it would raise rates six more times in 2022. The Bank of England also raised its interest rates (for the third time).
• A Honduran judge granted a U.S. request to extradite ex-president Hernandez to face charges for drug trafficking and illegal firearms. The judiciary was Hernandez’s best chance to avoid extradition: until now, it had seemed to remain loyal to Hernandez. Hernandez plans to appeal.

Chinese plot to smear US Congress hopeful unveiled (BBC)

Unsealed files have revealed a plot by five people working on behalf of Chinese secret police to stalk and harass a US military veteran running for Congress, and to spy on an artist.

It is the first time, they say, a federal election campaign has been undermined in this way in America.

The perpetrators went to "outrageous and dangerous" lengths to do so, the Department of Justice said.

Three of the accused have been arrested, but two are at large.

According to court documents, they are accused of "transnational repression schemes" to target American residents whose political views and actions were "disfavoured by the People's Republic of China (PRC) government".

The co-conspirators allegedly tried to "interfere with federal elections" by orchestrating a campaign to undermine the US congressional candidacy of a military veteran who was once a leader of the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing.

In another plot, they planned to destroy the work of a Chinese artist, living in Los Angeles, who had been critical of his home government, and allegedly planted spy equipment in the artist's workplace and car.

Fan "Frank" Liu, Matthew Ziburis and Shujun Wang were all arrested in the Eastern District of New York earlier this week.

Two other suspects, Qiang "Jason" Sun and Qiming Lin are at large.

Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the plots had involved campaigns to "silence, harass, discredit and spy" on US residents for "simply exercising their freedom of speech".

He added: "The United States will not tolerate blatantly illegal actions that target US residents, on US soil, and undermine our treasured American values and rights."

The details of the allegations revealed on Wednesday, allege Mr Lin hired a private investigator in New York to disrupt the Brooklyn man's congressional campaign, including "by physically attacking" him.

The man had been a student leader of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989, who had escaped to America, become a citizen and served in the US military,

In 2021, he announced his intention to run for a US congressional seat on Long Island in the November 2022 general election.

Matthew Olsen, an assistant attorney general for the Justice department said the case represented "a conspiracy to derail the congressional candidacy of an American citizen" and warned that it and the others unveiled today were examples of the "alarming rise in trans-national repression... authoritarian states around the world feel emboldened to reach beyond their borders to intimidate or exact reprisals against individuals who dare to speak out against oppression and corruption".

Mr Liu, 62, of Long Island, New York, and Mr Ziburis, 49, of Oyster Bay New York, are charged with conspiring to act as agents of the PRC government, conspiring to commit interstate harassment and the illegal use of a means of identification.

Mr Liu, the president of a media company in New York, and Mr Sun are charged with conspiring to bribe a federal official in connection with a scheme to obtain the tax returns of a pro-democracy activist residing in the United States.

Mr Lin, 59, of the PRC, is charged with conspiracy to commit interstate harassment, as well as conspiring and attempting to use a means of identification.

Mr Lin, it is alleged, works on behalf of the PRC's Ministry of State Security (MSS), the Chinese intelligence and secret police agency.