Will Brittney Griner's prison time be cut?

Eleven days after WNBA star Brittney Griner was convicted convicted of drug charges in Russia, her lawyers have moved to have her prison sentenced reduced. 

It's Julius here with Tuesday's updates on Ukraine.

On Monday, Griner's lawyers in Russia filed an appeal requesting that her nine-year prison sentence be shortened or thrown out. The lawyers, who say the appeal could take one to three months, say similar drug cases routinely draw sentences of five years or less.

"Griner’s counsel are arguing in their appeal that the verdict was procedurally flawed,'' Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, told Paste BN.

Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February after vape canisters containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. She said she packed them by accident, pleaded guilty and was formally convicted Aug. 4.

The appeal came one day after Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Kremlin is ready for "a professional conversation and concrete steps" toward freeing Griner and fellow American Paul Whelan in a prisoner exchange, which may involve Russian national Viktor Bout.

Bout is serving a 25-year sentence on charges of conspiring to kill U.S. citizens, delivery of anti-aircraft missiles and providing aid to a terrorist organization.

• Russia's Black Sea fleet is "struggling to exercise effective sea control," the British Defense Ministry said in an assessment released Tuesday. 
• More than 1,000 Ukrainian children have been killed or wounded as Russian troops continue pounding cities and towns with a barrage of missiles, Ukraine's chief prosecutor said Monday.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged to target Russian soldiers using the Zaporizhzhia plant as cover to shell nearby cities, raising concerns of a nuclear catastrophe.