August 5, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has added his voice to the claim and counter-claim over which side shelled areas around and at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

“This is the largest nuclear power plant on our continent. And any shelling of this facility is an open, brazen crime, an act of terror,” he added.

The Russian Defense Ministry has denied accusations made by the Ukrainian state nuclear company that Russian forces shelled the territory of the nuclear power plant — blaming instead the Ukrainians.

The power plant was taken over by Russian forces early in March, as was the nearby city of Enerhodar.

“This is an argument in favor of applying tough sanctions against the entire Russian nuclear industry — from Rosatom to all related companies and individuals. This is purely a matter of safety. The one who creates nuclear threats to other nations is definitely not capable of using nuclear technologies safely,” Zelensky said.

Oksana Pokalchuk, Head of Amnesty International Ukraine, attends the Global Policy Forum 2022 at Bocconi University on June 20 in Milan, Italy.

Oksana Pokalchuk, Head of Amnesty International Ukraine, has announced her resignation from the organization over its report criticizing the Ukrainian military for putting the lives of civilians at risk by using civilian facilities such as schools during the conflict.?

In a statement on Facebook, Pokalchuk, said she had tried to dissuade the organization from publishing the report as it appeared.

Pokalchuk said, “Since the beginning of the full-scale aggression, we have not stopped emphasizing the violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed by Russia, the aggressor country. We thoroughly document these violations, and they will form the basis of numerous legal proceedings and help bring those responsible to justice.”

Referring to the Amnesty report, she said the report “cannot fail to contain information about the other side of the war, about the one who started this war…. The organization created material that sounded like support for Russian narratives. Seeking to protect civilians, this research instead became a tool of Russian propaganda.”

In its report, Amnesty said?Ukrainian forces had put civilians in harm’s way by establishing bases and operating weapons systems in populated residential areas, including in schools and hospitals, as they repelled the Russian invasion that began in February.??

Such tactics violate international humanitarian law, Amnesty said.

“We have documented a pattern of Ukrainian forces putting civilians at risk and violating the laws of war when they operate in populated areas,” said Agnès Callamard,?Amnesty?International’s secretary general.??

“Being in a defensive position does not exempt the Ukrainian military from respecting international humanitarian law,” Callamard said.

Ukrainian officials said Russian forces have shelled areas around the nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region.

The Ukrainian nuclear power operator, Energoatom, said Russian forces bombed a?power station, and the town is now largely without power.

“The water intake station is also not working — there is no water in the city,” Energoatom said on Telegram.

Energoatom also claimed that Russian rocket fire had hit the territory of the nuclear power plant.

“Three hits were recorded directly at the site of the station,” Energoatom said, claiming that one was “near one of the power units where the nuclear reactor is located.”

“Fire danger is high. Currently, there are no victims,” it said.

It’s not possible to confirm Energoatom’s claims of damage at or near the plant, which occupies a large site. Much of the recent Russian fire in the area has originated from near the plant and been aimed at the Ukrainian-held city of Nikopol across the Dnipro river.

Energoatom said: “The Ukrainian staff of the Zaporizhzhia NPP is on-site and performs all measures to ensure nuclear and radiation safety and eliminates the consequences of damage.”

Earlier on Friday, the British Ministry of Defense echoed accusations from the Ukrainian military that Russian forces are using the nuclear power plant to fire at military positions across the river, but other Western officials have downplayed the danger.?

A complex situation:?International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the situation at the plant was “completely out of control.”

Russia seized the plant, which is the largest nuclear plant in Europe, in the early days of the war on March 5. A week later, on March 12, a team of officials and technicians from Russia’s state nuclear agency, Rosatom, arrived on site to help manage the plant and help with repairs, according to Energoatom.?

The situation at the plant has remained complex ever since, with Ukrainian and Russian staff working alongside each other. Communications between the plant and the IAEA has been intermittent.

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an prior to their meeting in Sochi, Russia, on Friday, August 5.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an have agreed that Turkey will pay Russia in rubles for partial gas supplies.?

The bilateral talks, held in Sochi, lasted over four hours on Friday.

“In the process of negotiations, the presidents agreed that they would start payment in rubles for partial gas supplies,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told journalists after the meeting.

“We are talking about the transition to national currencies, and at the first stage, part of the supplies will be paid in Russian rubles. And this is really a new stage, new opportunities, including for the development of our monetary and financial relations,” Novak said.

Novak also said the two presidents reached agreements on establishing the financial banking bloc “to enable commercial companies, Russian citizens, to pay during tourist trips and exchange money.”

Putin and Erdo?an agreed to hold the next meeting of the Russian-Turkish High-Level Cooperation Council in Turkey.

President Joe Biden speaks from the White House on August 5, in Washington, DC.

President Joe Biden said Friday that he’s hopeful about WNBA star Brittney Griner’s case, following indications that Russia is ready to discuss a prisoner exchange with the United States.

Griner this week was convicted of deliberately smuggling drugs into Russia and sentenced to nine years of jail time. At trial, Griner testified she has a doctor’s prescription for medical cannabis and had no intention of bringing the drug into Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier on Friday that Russia was ready to discuss an exchange of prisoners with the US through a diplomatic channel agreed by Putin and Biden, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that the United States will pursue Russia’s latest offer to discuss a prisoner exchange at the presidential level involving Griner.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a?press conference on July 28 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Ukraine is “changing” its policy toward Africa as it seeks to expand ties with African countries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Thursday.

“We in Ukraine are changing this policy. … We want to expand our ties. It is very important for us. We also strive to find different areas for investment,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky also added that Ukraine was “ready to be a guarantor of food security in African countries.”

“And now, due to the blocking of the ports, the whole world saw how much Ukraine has done and how much it can do,” he added.

Countries like Turkey, Egypt, Somalia, Congo and Tanzania are some of the most dependent on Ukrainian and Russian wheat, and nations like Eritrea bought the?grain exclusively?from both countries in 2021.

The Ukrainian president said his country had already started changing its approach to Africa before the start of the Russian invasion and had since appointed a special representative of Ukraine for the Middle East and Africa.?

He said previous Ukrainian diplomacy had “forgotten” about Africa, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba would visit African countries “in the autumn.”

Still, even as the?UN-brokered agreement to lift the Russian blockade on Black Sea ports has eased grain prices, experts say the belated shipments from Ukraine are no quick fix to the food crisis, accelerated by years of pandemic-related disruptions, the climate crisis, conflict, food export restrictions and spiraling costs.

Read more on food insecurity in Africa and around the globe here.

A combine harvester unloads harvested wheat grain in Kharkiv, Ukraine on July 28.

As the Ukrainian harvest gathers pace, Agrarian Policy Minister?Mykola Solskyi said that the country can unload its grain storage elevators if the Black Sea?ports work at least at half capacity.

“If the military situation in the region is stable and everyone abides by the agreements, I am sure that it is possible,” Solskyi said.

“We have about 18-19 million tonnes left over from last season [2021-22],” he said.?

Ukraine needs to export about 70 million tonnes (metric tons) of products until next year’s harvest.

“This is about 5 million tonnes per month. The number is large, but it is common for Ukrainian business. Last month, without seaports, we increased exports to 3 million tons per month,” Solskyi said.

The grain traffic through the Black Sea is gradually gathering pace.

Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov said Friday that a bulk freighter coming to Ukraine to collect grain had passed inspection at the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, and it is expected to arrive Saturday.

Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey, discussed ships on their way to Turkey at a news conference Friday.

The three bulk carriers left Ukrainian ports early Friday.

Bodnar also suggested that further progress by Ukrainian forces in the south could unlock other shipping routes.

He said that if the military “can knock out the occupiers from the Kherson region, or at least from Kherson city, this will open up additional opportunities for transporting goods from Ukrainian ports — just as the liberation of Snake Island opened the possibility of this agreement.”

There has been heavy shelling in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv on Friday, especially around the port on the Dnipro river, according to Ukrainian officials.

“Russian terrorists shelled the residential quarters of the Ship district of Mykolaiv this afternoon,” Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said.

Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv regional military administration, said at least 10 people had been?wounded in one place, and there were also fatalities.

Friday’s shelling?followed overnight attacks by both multiple rocket launchers and artillery.

Kim said on Ukrainian television that about 5% of the Mykolaiv region’s settlements are held by the Russians, and most battles on the ground are in neighboring Kherson region, which is largely Russian-occupied.

He also said that several Russian S-300 launchers — which are frequently involved in attacks on the city of Mykolaiv — had been eliminated.

Kim has ordered an extended curfew for the city this weekend, running from 11 p.m. local time on Friday until 5 a.m. local time on Monday.

One reason, he has said, is to track down alleged Russian informers in the city.

“One of the tasks would be to expose the Russian agents. A lot of residents cooperate with the law enforcement and provide information on collaborators,” he claimed.

He advised residents that “the city will be closed; our law enforcement will be working in different districts, including working on collaborators. Be polite, provide all the useful information.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands prior to their meeting in Sochi, Russia on August 5.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday praised his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdo?an for his role in the signing of a deal to unblock Ukrainian grain exports.?

“With your direct participation and with the mediation of the UN, the issue related to the supply of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea ports was resolved. Deliveries have already begun. I want to thank you for this and for the fact that at the same time a package of decisions was made on the uninterrupted supply of Russian food and Russian fertilizers to global markets,” Putin said.

Erdo?an and Putin are holding talks Friday in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi in southern Russia.

On July 22, Ukraine and Russia agreed on a deal that would allow the resumption of vital grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. The agreement was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in Istanbul.?

For months, Russia blocked maritime access to those ports, meaning that millions of tons of Ukrainian grain has not been exported to the many countries that rely on it. Both Ukraine and Russia had both accused each other of mining the waters.

Erdo?an said steps that are taken in the energy sector, grain corridor in the Black Sea, the transportation sector and the?discussions on the tourism sector are vital in terms of revealing the role played by Turkey and Russia in the region.?

Putin said Moscow hopes to sign a memorandum with Turkey on the development of trade and economic relations between the two countries.??

The two leaders are planning to discuss in detail the topics of Russian and Turkish cooperation, including the prospects for further expansion of trade and economic ties and the implementation of joint strategic projects in the energy sector, the Kremlin said Thursday.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said last week that Putin and Erdo?an will discuss military and technical cooperation as well as issues of grain export from Ukraine.?

The European Union has coordinated the evacuation of some 1,000 Ukrainian patients in need of urgent care to hospitals in 18 member states since the Russian invasion began, an EU Commission spokesperson said Friday in a statement.

“The [EU] Commission stands ready to continue coordinating this assistance,” she added.

The World Health Organization told CNN on Friday that it has so far recorded 434 verified attacks on healthcare in Ukraine since the invasion started that have killed at least 85 people and injured 101 more.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia, in 2021.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday declined to comment on the decision of a Russian court to sentence WNBA star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison on a drug smuggling conviction.?

When asked during a regular call with reporters if Russian President Vladimir Putin could pardon Griner, Peskov said: “There is a certain [legal] procedure that the convicted can resort to, in accordance with the law.”?

Peskov also said that publicly discussing the issue of a possible prisoner swap with the US would be “a mistake.”?

“If we discuss through the press some exchange-related nuances, then these exchanges will never take place. The Americans have already made this mistake,” the spokesman said.?

“These questions are not resolved this way, therefore, we will not give any comment,” he added, suggesting discussions on possible prisoner exchanges should go through the channel previously agreed upon by Putin and US President Joe Biden during a summit in Geneva last year.?

Some context:?Russian?Foreign Minister?Sergey Lavrov said earlier on Friday that Russia was ready to discuss a high-profile prisoner swap with the US through the diplomatic channel, according to?Russian state news agency RIA?Novosti.

Shortly after, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the same summit that the US will “pursue” talks with Russia.??

The prisoner exchange talks follow the Biden administration’s offer to exchange?Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year US prison sentence, in exchange for two Americans wrongfully detained by?Russia, Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.

A general view shows the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, situated in the Russian-controlled area of Enerhodar, seen from Nikopol in April 27, 2022.

Concerns have mounted after the British Ministry of Defense echoed accusations from the Ukrainian military that Russian forces are using the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine to fire at military positions across the Dnieper River, but Western officials have downplayed the danger.?

The MOD’s assessment echoes accusations made by the mayor of the Russian-occupied town of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, who said in late July that Russia was using the plant as a fortress. “They (Russian forces) know very well that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will not respond to these attacks, as they can damage the nuclear power plant,” Orlov told Ukrainian broadcaster Espreso TV.

A mixed picture: On Thursday, Western officials downplayed the likelihood of intense combat in and around the nuclear power plant.?

“Russia might use the site as a safe zone, from which to carry out defensive operations. Ukraine will consider very carefully how to avoid taking major risks around the site,” the officials said.?

The MOD’s concerns come after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Rafael Grossi told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the situation at the plant was “completely out of control.”?

Grossi said he was trying to put together a mission, with the support of the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, to visit the plant, but explained actually going was a “very complex thing,” because “it requires the understanding and the cooperation” of the Ukrainians and the Russians occupying it.

Some background: Russia seized the plant, which is the largest nuclear plant in Europe, in the early days of the war on March 5. A week later, on March 12, a team of officials and technicians from Russia’s state nuclear agency, ROSATOM, arrived on site to help manage the plant and help with repairs, Ukraine’s nuclear agency, Energoatom, said.?

The situation at the plant has remained complex ever since, with Ukrainian and Russian staff working alongside each other. Communications between the plant and the IAEA has been intermittent.

Military operations in the area, with an announced Ukrainian counter-offensive to take Kherson have made the situation even more volatile, the IAEA has said.

While Western officials understand some of the IAEA’s concerns, they “don’t think [the situation] is as dire as it is necessarily been painted in the media at the moment.”

The officials went on to explain that plants like the one in Zaporizhzhia are built with multiple safeguards in place.?“So please don’t think that we’re looking at Chernobyl like situation, that’s not the case,” officials said. “We think overall, the circumstances of that site are still okay.”

CNN reached out to Rosatom for comment but has yet to hear back.?

Russian forces say they have been able to take over the Donetsk village of Pisky, as they continue to make a push in eastern Ukraine, state news agency TASS reported Friday.

They also claimed fighting was taking place on the outskirts of Bakhmut.?

“In the direction of Bakhmut, the enemy shelled military and civilian infrastructure near Yakovlivka, Kodema, Pokrovske, Rozdolivka, Vershyna, Bakhmut and Soledar,” the Ukrainian military’s General Staff said in an update on Friday morning.

“The enemy conducted offensive and assault actions with the aim of improving the tactical position, but was unsuccessful.”

Russian efforts blocked: The General Staff said on Thursday that an effort by Russian troops to break through near Bakhmut had been thwarted.?The enemy “received a decisive rebuff from our soldiers and left.” But it had “partial success” in advancing east of Bakhmut and west of Donetsk airport.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, attend the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers meeting during the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Phnom Penh on August 5.

The US will pursue Russia’s latest offer?to discuss at the presidential level an exchange of prisoners involving detained WNBA star Brittney Griner,?US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.

“We put forward, as you know, a substantial proposal that Russia should engage with us on. And what Foreign Minister Lavrov said this morning and said publicly is that they are prepared to engage through channels we’ve established to do just that. And we’ll be pursuing that,” Blinken told reporters at a press briefing?while attending the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Cambodia.

The secretary of state said the?conviction and sentencing?of Griner to nine years in prison “further compounds the injustice that’s being done to her and her wrongful detention.”

Griner’s conviction “puts a spotlight on?[Washington’s]?very significant concern with Russia’s legal system and the Russian government’s use of wrongful detentions to advance its own agenda using individuals as political pawn,” Blinken told reporters.?“The same goes for Paul Whelan,” he added.

Some context: Russian?Foreign Minister?Sergey Lavrov said earlier on Friday that Russia was ready to discuss a high-profile prisoner swap with the US through a diplomatic channel agreed by Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to?Russian state news agency RIA?Novosti.

The prisoner exchange discussion is underway after the Biden administration offered to exchange?Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year US prison sentence, in exchange for two Americans held by?Russia, Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.

WNBA star Griner was sentenced by a Russian court to nine years in prison for a drug smuggling conviction on Thursday.

Ukrainian forces say they struck several Russian ammunition and equipment depots in the Kherson region, as it continues its slow-moving counter-offensive to try and re-take lost territory in the South.

“Our attack aircrafts attacked two sites of enemy weapons and equipment in the Kherson and Kakhovka districts. A pair of helicopters destroyed an enemy stronghold in the occupied part of the Mykolaiv Oblast,” Ukraine’s Southern Command said on Friday.?

“Our missile and artillery units, during the execution of fire missions, densely attacked the enemy’s air defense system and logistics points, including those with ammunition in the Kherson district,” it also said.?

According to the Ukrainian military, three ammunition and equipment depots were destroyed in the strikes, along with several S-300 anti-aircraft systems, a radar station, and nine armoured vehicles.

CNN cannot independently verify the Ukrainian claims.

A Malta-flagged bulk carrier M/V Rojen vessel carrying tons of corn leaves the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk, before heading to Teesport in the United Kingdom, on August 5.

Three ships — the Navi Star, the Rojen and the Polarnet — have departed from Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Chornomorsk, carrying 57,000 tons of corn, the country’s infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Friday.?

The ships will travel to Turkey, the United Kingdom and Ireland, respectively.?

He added that Ukraine has already received applications from ship owners “who are ready to enter our ports for loading,” with the first arrival expected on Saturday.

Earlier this week, the first shipment of grain was allowed to leave Ukraine since the war began. The shipment left under a?UN-brokered export deal, after Russia’s months-long blockade of Ukrainian ports worsened a global food supply crisis.

Brittney Griner sits inside a defendants' cage before the court's verdict in Khimki, Russia on August 4.

After a Russian court?sentenced WNBA star Brittney Griner?to nine years in prison for a drug smuggling conviction on Thursday, the player’s supporters, teammates and numerous US officials swiftly condemned the decision.

Now, Griner has returned to the detention center where she was held during her weeks-long trial as her lawyers vow to appeal the sentence and the Biden administration attempts to negotiate for her release.

The case: During the trial, Griner pleaded guilty to carrying?less than 1 gram?of cannabis oil in her luggage as she traveled through a Moscow airport on February 17. She testified that she was aware of Russia’s strict drug laws and had no intention of bringing cannabis into the country, saying she was in a rush and “stress packing.”

Her lawyers had hoped that Griner’s guilty plea and statements of remorse would result in a more lenient sentence. In addition to her nine-year sentence, Griner must pay a fine of 1 million rubles (about $16,400).

What’s next: Griner’s legal team will file an appeal to the court’s decision, which they must do within 10 days of the verdict, according to her lawyers.

Prisoner swap: Last week, CNN reported that the Biden administration has proposed a prisoner swap, offering to exchange a convicted Russian arms trafficker for Griner and Whelan.

Whelan, a?US citizen and former Marine, was handed a 16-year prison sentence in 2018 on espionage charges after a trial the US deemed unfair.

After Griner’s sentence, National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said that it was “up to the Russian side” on whether the conviction will open the door for prisoner-swap negotiations.

Read more here.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during a press conference in Moscow on April 7.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Russia was ready to discuss an exchange of prisoners with the United States through a diplomatic channel agreed upon by the presidents of both countries.

“If the Americans decide to resort again to public diplomacy and make boisterous announcements, statements that they are now going to take such-and-such steps, that’s their business, their problem,” he said.

“We are ready to discuss this topic, but within the framework of the channel that has been agreed by the presidents (of?Russia?and the United States) Putin and Biden.”

That diplomatic channel was agreed during the June 2021 summit between US President Joe Biden and Russian Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti.

“We are talking about the conversation between the two Presidents in Geneva,” Peskov said.

Some context: A high-profile prisoner swap discussion is underway after the Biden administration offered to exchange?Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year US prison sentence, in exchange for two Americans held by?Russia, Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.

WNBA star Griner was sentenced by a Russian court to nine years in prison for a drug smuggling conviction on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during his evening video message on Thursday Aug. 4.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday lashed out at an Amnesty International report that claimed his country’s forces have at times?used tactics?that endanger civilians as they repel Russia’s invasion.

The report tries to “shift the responsibility” of civilian deaths in Ukraine away from Russia, Zelensky said in his nightly address.

Zelensky’s remarks come after Amnesty published a report on Thursday saying Ukrainian forces had put civilians in harm’s way by establishing bases and operating weapons systems in populated residential areas, including in schools and hospitals.

“There are no and can be no, even hypothetically, conditions under which any Russian attack on Ukraine becomes justified,” Zelensky said, adding that Russia had destroyed hundreds of religious buildings, nearly 900 medical institutions and thousands of schools.

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is seen in this February 21, 2014 photo in Kyiv.

The European Council on Thursday announced sanctions against ousted former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his eldest son amid Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

Some context: In 2013, pro-European protests erupted in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv after Yanukovych decided to not sign an association agreement with the European Union, opting instead to pursue closer ties with Russia. Yanukovych fled Ukraine in 2014 amid the political crisis.

Three more?ships?laden with grain are expected to leave Ukrainian ports on Friday morning, according to Ukrainian and Turkish officials.

Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook that two of the ships were expected to depart from the southern port of Chornomorsk, with another leaving from nearby Odesa.

“After that, a caravan will be formed, which, together with the leading ship, will go to the ports of destination,” he said. The three ships will together carry more than 50,000 metric tons of Ukrainian corn, he added.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar confirmed the three ships would sail under the auspices of the agreement signed by Turkey, the UN, Russia and Ukraine on July 22.

WNBA star Brittney Griner walks out after the court's verdict in Khimki, Russia on August 4.

American women’s basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted of deliberately smuggling drugs into Russia and sentenced to nine years of jail time Thursday in a case that has raised concerns she is being?used as a political pawn in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Judge Anna Sotnikova of the Khimki city court delivered the sentence and fined Griner 1 million rubles, or about $16,400. She said the court took into account Griner’s partial admission of guilt, remorse for the deed, state of health and charitable activities. Prosecutors had asked that she be sentenced to 9.5 years in jail.

Prior to the verdict,?Griner apologized to the court?and asked for leniency in an emotional speech.

The verdict comes about six months after the 31-year-old was arrested at a Moscow airport and accused by Russian prosecutors of trying to smuggle?less than 1 gram?of cannabis oil in her luggage. The two-time US Olympic basketball gold medalist?pleaded guilty?to drug charges last month and said she accidentally packed the drugs while in a hurry.

Read more here.