August 5, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Jessie Yeung, Megan Trimble, Tara John and Adrienne Vogt, CNN

Updated 3:34 a.m. ET, August 8, 2022
4 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
12:21 a.m. ET, August 5, 2022

Zelensky says Amnesty report tries to "shift the responsibility" away from Russia

From CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during his evening video message on Thursday Aug. 4.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during his evening video message on Thursday Aug. 4. (Office of President of Ukraine)

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.

"We saw today a completely different report from Amnesty International, which, unfortunately, tries to amnesty the terrorist state and shift the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim," Zelensky said.

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.

"This is such immoral selectivity," Zelensky said. "Anyone who amnesties Russia and who artificially creates a such informational context where some attacks by terrorists are supposedly justified or supposedly understandable cannot fail to understand that, in doing so, they are helping the terrorists."
12:08 a.m. ET, August 5, 2022

EU sanctions pro-Russian former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his eldest son

From CNN's Sarah Diab and Claudia Rebaza

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is seen in this February 21, 2014 photo in Kyiv.
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is seen in this February 21, 2014 photo in Kyiv. (Thomas Trutschel/Photothek/Getty Images)

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

Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr Yanukovych have been sanctioned, "for their role in undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine and the state's stability and security," the council said in a statement.

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.

11:20 p.m. ET, August 4, 2022

3 more grain ships expected to leave Ukrainian ports Friday

From CNN's Petro Zadorozhnyy

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.

“As a result of the intense work and coordination at the [Joint Coordination] center, three ships are planned to set sail from Ukrainian ports," Akar said.
4:36 a.m. ET, August 5, 2022

WNBA star Brittney Griner sentenced to 9 years in Russian jail for drug-smuggling

From CNN's Anna Chernova, Zahra Ullah, Masha Angelova, Chris Liakos and Eric Levenson

WNBA star Brittney Griner walks out after the court's verdict in Khimki, Russia on August 4.
WNBA star Brittney Griner walks out after the court's verdict in Khimki, Russia on August 4. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool/Reuters)

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.

"I never meant to hurt anybody, I never meant to put in jeopardy the Russian population, I never meant to break any laws here," Griner said. "I made an honest mistake and I hope that in your ruling that it doesn't end my life here. I know everybody keeps talking about political pawn and politics, but I hope that, that is far from this courtroom.
"I want to say again that I had no intent on breaking any Russian laws. I had no intent. I did not conspire or plan to commit this crime," she added.
After the sentence, Griner told a CNN producer as she left court, "I love my family."

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.