A Russian soldier has pleaded guilty to killing a 62-year-old civilian in northeastern Ukraine in the first war crimes trial.
Vadim Shishimarin is accused of shooting an unarmed resident through an open car window while Russian soldiers were entering the village of Chupahivka, four days after the invasion.
He confessed to the murder on February 28, while proceedings began on Wednesday in a district court in Kyiv.
The 21-year-old Russian tank commander could face up to life in prison.
Russia has denied that its troops have attacked civilians.
The Ukrainian State Prosecutor’s Office said the soldier and four other Russian servicemen shot and stole a private car to escape after their column was directed by Ukrainian forces.
When they arrived in Chupahivka, about 200 miles east of Kyiv, they saw a resident riding a bicycle and talking on the phone.
They said Shishimarin had received an order from another soldier to kill the civilian to prevent him from reporting on the Russian presence.
He fired several shots through the open window of the car with a machine gun at the civilian’s head. The man died meters from his home.
Ukraine’s security service, known as the SBU, released a short video earlier this month in which Shishimarin described how he shot the man.
“I was ordered to shoot,” he said. “I shot one (cartridge) at him. He fell. And we continued.”
The SBU described the video as “one of the first confessions of the enemy invaders”.
Shishimarin was prosecuted under a section of the Ukrainian Penal Code that deals with the laws and customs of war.
Ukraine has accused Russia of atrocities and brutality against civilians during the invasion and said it had identified more than 10,000 possible war crimes.
Moscow has denied the allegations, accusing Kyiv of fabricating them to tarnish its forces.
Ukraine’s chief prosecutor, Irina Venediktov, said earlier that her office was preparing cases against 41 Russian soldiers for crimes, including the killing of civilians, rape, bombing of civilian infrastructure and looting.
It is unclear how many of the suspects have been detained in Ukraine or will be tried in absentia.
Investigators are also gathering evidence of possible war crimes to face the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
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