A 21-year-old Russian soldier has become the first member of his country’s military to go on trial for allegedly committing a war crime in Ukraine.
Sergeant Vadim Shyshimarin, who appeared in court in Kyiv for the first time on Friday, is accused of killing an unarmed Ukrainian civilian.
It’s alleged the captured member of a Russian tank unit shot a 62-year-old man in the head through an open car window in the north-eastern village of Chupakhivka during the first days of the war.
He faces up to life in prison under a section of the Ukrainian criminal code that addresses the laws and customs of war.
Shyshimarin’s trial, which marks the first war crimes trial since Moscow invaded its neighbour 11 weeks ago, was attended by scores of journalists at the Solomyanskyy district court in Kyiv and will be watched closely by the world.
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