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Ukraine war: Russia soldier pleads guilty to war crimes

Staff WritersAP
Russian serviceman Vadim Shishimarin is accused of killing an unarmed civilian man in Ukraine.
Camera IconRussian serviceman Vadim Shishimarin is accused of killing an unarmed civilian man in Ukraine. Credit: EPA

A Russian soldier facing the first war crimes trial since the start of the war in Ukraine has pleaded guilty to charges of killing an elderly unarmed civilian.

Vadim Shyshimarin pleaded guilty to the charges during his trial in Kyiv on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old soldier could get life in prison if convicted of shooting a Ukrainian man in the head through an open car window in a village in the northeastern Sumy region on February 28, four days into the invasion.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has previously said her office was readying war crimes cases against 41 Russian soldiers for offences including bombing civilian infrastructure, killing civilians, rape and looting.

It was not immediately clear how many of the suspects are in Ukrainian hands and how many could be tried in absentia.

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with reporting from Reuters

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