Ukraine Live Briefing: Griner handed 9 years, close to maximum

A Russian court found WNBA star Brittney Griner guilty on drug charges Thursday, handing her a nine-year sentence, after accounting for time served.

The case, centered on a small quantity of cannabis oil that Griner says she took to Russia by mistake, has become a focal point in tensions between Moscow and Washington following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Elizabeth Rood, called the ruling a “miscarriage of justice,” Reuters reported.

Last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States had made “a substantial offer” to secure the release of two Americans held in Moscow, and Russian officials have hinted at the possibility of a prisoner swap.

Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.

India turns to Russian fertilizer, showing challenge of isolating Moscow: India has dramatically increased its imports of fertilizer from Russia, showing the difficulties the United States and its allies face in isolating Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine, Niha Masih reports.

The increase in fertilizer imports from Russia makes the country India’s top supplier, according to information provided in Parliament by the minister of chemicals and fertilizers. The shipments come on top of India’s record imports of discounted Russian oil.

As the war in Ukraine drags into its sixth month, so does the challenge of seeking to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military campaign without hurting the world’s poorest people.