As the effects of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia wear on, sanctions have begun to roll in as a 21-year-old Russian soldier was on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment for shooting and killing a civilian in Ukraine’s first war crimes trial.
The soldier confessed to court in Kiev on Monday that he shot a 62-year-old civilian amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The development was the first case heard in court after the worldwide horror over Russian atrocities in Ukraine which have claimed the lives of several persons.
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The shooting reportedly occurred in the village of Chupakhivka in the north-eastern Sumy region.
The soldier, who is from Siberia, told the court that he acted on orders from his superiors. He apologised during the trial but the prosecution asked for life imprisonment.
The defence argued for acquittal, saying the soldier was carrying out an order. The sentence will only become final after a possible appeal.
It is possible that the man will be exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners in Russia.
Heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces has continued in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, as Moscow’s troops pressed on with their advance on Severodonetsk, where local officials accused Russia of using “scorched-earth” tactics.
Severodonetsk and its twin city of Lysychansk form the eastern part of a Ukrainian-held pocket that Russia has been trying to capture since mid-April, when it shifted focus to the south and east after abandoning its offensive to take Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk, one of the two provinces in Donbas, said on Sunday Russian forces were deploying “scorched-earth” tactics.
“They are wiping Severodonetsk from the face of the Earth,” he alleged.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of carrying out senseless bombardments during its renewed offensive in Donbas, which, he said, had turned it into “hell”.
Africa Daily News, New York
