Tuesday, March 22, 2022

The Law of War and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine


YOU’D NEED A heart made of granite not to be moved by Marina Ovsyannikova, the Russian television producer who on Monday jumped onto the set of the state-run network Channel One during a live broadcast and shouted, “Stop the war, no to war!”

Perhaps the most touching aspect of Ovsyannikova’s action was the nature of the sign she held, which featured small Ukrainian and Russian flags and the words “No war. Stop the war. Don’t believe propaganda. They lie to you here. Russians against war.”

It wasn’t a slickly designed placard, produced by graphic designers paid by an NGO funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. Instead, it was hand-drawn, with some letters getting narrower near the right margin as she realized she was running out of space. Did she make this at home on her dining room table? Did she have an office at work with a door she could lock? At some point the paper had clearly been rolled up in a tube because as Ovsyannikova held it up, it was trying to curl back on itself. 

WHY ARE THERE SO FEW MARINA OVSYANNIKOVAS — IN RUSSIA AND EVERYWHERE ELSE?


Over 400 Companies Have Withdrawn from Russia—But Some Remain

@JeffSonnenfeld: There are 33 companies that are defying demands for exit/reduction of activities from Russia [“The list is updated continuously by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his research team at the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute to reflect new announcements from companies in as close to real time as possible.”]



CRS Legal Sidebar, The Law of War and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, March 6, 2022 – “In the days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, many countries condemned the action as a violation of international law governing when countries may use force against one another.Since then, several observers, including the U.S. Secretary of State and other foreign government officials, have cited evidence that the Russian military has targeted civilians,struck protected sites, and taken other actions that violate international law regulating the conduct of war. 

This Legal Sidebar provides a brief introduction to the international legal framework governing the use of force in the invasion of Ukraine and concludes with a discussion of avenues for accountability and options for Congress.”