December 9, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Around 50% of Ukraine's critical infrastructure for electricity have been “damaged more” and some has been “totally destroyed,” Oleksandr Kubrakov, the country's infrastructure minister, has told CNN.

Ukraine was using “big bags of sand” to protect the targets, he added.

In a daily update to the energy situation across the country, the state energy supplier Ukrenergo maintained that the situation “remains difficult but under control”.

However, the company did admit that “all thermal and hydroelectric power plants are partially damaged,” and that the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is not supplying electricity to the grid.

The company noted that that there will be little “major improvement” on the restoration of power across the country over the weekend. Russian shelling and missile strikes have continued to impact Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

Russian opposition figure Ilya Yashin said on Friday that the "authors" of the "hysterical verdict" of a Moscow court handing him eight and a half years of jail time are "optimistic about Putin's prospects," according to a post on Yashin’s official Telegram account.

"The authors of the verdict are optimistic about Putin's prospects. In my opinion, they are too optimistic," he said.

"Strong leaders are calm and self-confident, and only weaklings seek to shut everyone up, burn out any dissent. So today it only remains for me to repeat what was said on the day of my arrest: I am not afraid, and you should not be," the post added. 

The reaction came after a Moscow court announced the sentencing after finding Yashin guilty of spreading "false information" about the Russian army, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.

"But we also have no reason to be sad, because we have won this trial, friends," Yashin continued. "We spoke the truth about war crimes and called for an end to the bloodshed."

Russian investigators said his statements about the circumstances of the killings in Bucha are a criminal offense under recently introduced legislation, which considers discrediting the Russian armed forces to be illegal.

Some background: Yashin, also a close ally of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, came to prominence during the protests between 2011 and 2012, which he helped organize against Putin's re-election for the third term and unfair elections. Yashin remained a fierce Putin critic for years to come, also serving as a municipal deputy in small Moscow municipality before being barred from running for a public office.

US basketball player Brittney Griner has landed in the US after being released in a high-profile prisoner swap.

And in Ukraine, settlements in the eastern Donetsk region and northeastern Kharkiv region have come under heavy Russian fire, officials said.

Here are the latest developments:

A Moscow court on Friday found Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin guilty of spreading "false information" about the Russian army, according to Russian state media TASS. 

Sentencing is expected later in the day. Yashin, a prominent opposition leader and former municipal deputy, faces up to nine years in prison.  

Russian investigators said his statements about the circumstances of the killings in Bucha are a criminal offense under recently introduced legislation, which considers discrediting the Russian armed forces to be illegal.

In his closing remarks to the court on Monday, Yashin said he was being prosecuted to "sew his mouth shut."

"Everyone understands that this is the point. I am isolated from society because they want me to be silent. I promise as long as I'm alive I'll never will be. My mission is to tell the truth. I will not give up the truth even behind bars," he said, according to a post on Yashin’s official account on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.

Yashin, also a close ally of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, came to prominence during the protests between 2011 and 2012, which he helped organize against Putin's re-election for the third term and unfair elections.  

Yashin remained a fierce Putin critic for years to come, also serving as a municipal deputy in small Moscow municipality before being barred from running for a public office.  

The exchange of WNBA star Brittney Griner for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is not a sign of improvements in the relations between Russia and the United States, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. 

"The (Russia-US) negotiations dealt exclusively with the topic of the exchange," Peskov told the Russian newspaper Izvestia. 

Peskov said the Kremlin wished Bout a "speedy rehabilitation" and said that the released prisoner is "well, but the doctors have yet to determine how healthy he is."

Meanwhile, Bout’s wife Alla told state news agency TASS on Friday that he is "exhausted" and in a "terrible state." 

"Viktor Anatolyevich (Bout) is in a terrible state, he is very exhausted. He had not slept for three days before that. This is due to the road, of course, and to the emotional component," she said, adding that he was "treated very honorably, with respect" by the United States.

The Biden administration believes the Russian government will continue to engage with the United States on the issue of Russian and US nationals detained in each others' country, a senior administration official told CNN.

The official's comments came as Brittney Griner was exchanged for Viktor Bout. Griner, a WNBA basketball player, was imprisoned in Russia and convicted of drug smuggling after being caught with less than a gram of cannabis oil in her luggage earlier this year. Bout, a convicted arms dealer, was serving a 25-year prison sentence in the US on charges of conspiring to kill Americans.

Another American, Paul Whelan, remains in Russian custody. Whelan, a former marine who is a US, Irish, British and Canadian citizen, was detained at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 by Russian authorities who alleged he was involved in an intelligence operation. He was convicted and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in prison in a trial US officials denounced as unfair.

"We have shown an openness to talk about that which is actually available to us and gotten only in response a demand for something not available to us," the senior Biden administration official said, reiterating that the Russians refused what had been offered to secure the release of Whelan. 

CNN previously reported that convicted Russian murderer Vadim Krasikov, who is in German custody, was one of Moscow’s requests, and the official did not rule out that his release had been a continued request.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Whelan said he was happy that Griner was released but was "greatly disappointed" that more had not been done to secure his release.

War-related demands: Demands related to the war in Ukraine, however, did not come up in the negotiations to secure Griner’s release and attempt to secure Whelan’s, the official said, adding that the US would not makes concessions on that front.

"If it were raised, of course, it is not for bargaining. Another country’s future is not for bargaining and the defense of democracy against autocracy is not for bargaining," the official said.

Pope Francis broke down in tears on Thursday while talking about the war in Ukraine during an annual prayer at Rome’s Spanish steps to mark the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a national holiday in Italy. 

The Pope’s voice cracked as he mentioned the suffering of the Ukrainian people and he trembled as he was forced to stop for around 30 seconds.  

"Instead, I still have to present to you the supplication of the children, of the elderly, of the fathers and mothers, of the young people of that tormented land."

Watch moment:

Brittney Griner's first stop back on US soil will likely be at a medical treatment facility, according to John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council.

Griner could also to take part in a Department of Defense Program known as PISA (Post Isolation Support Activities) to help her acclimate back to normal life. 

Americans detained abroad, like Marine Corps veteran Trevor Reed and the seven Americans who returned from Venezuela in October, also participated in PISA. 

Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, who traveled with Griner, confirmed her arrival early Friday morning on Twitter.

Britain on Friday announced new sanctions against 30 people around the world it alleged were "corrupt political figures, human rights violators and perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence."

Those targeted include "individuals and entities involved in a wide range of grievous activities – including the torture of prisoners, the mobilization of troops to rape civilians, and systematic atrocities," the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.

The move was coordinated with international partners to mark International Anti-Corruption Day and Human Rights Day.

Several individuals from Russia and Crimea, which the Kremlin annexed in violation of international law in 2014, were targeted. They will not be permitted to enter the UK, channel money through its banks, or profit from its economy.