The first Russian soldier on trial in Ukraine for war crimes during Moscow’s invasion has pleaded guilty to killing a 62-year-old civilian in northeast Ukraine in the first days of the Kremlin’s offensive. He faces possible life imprisonment in Kyiv.
Asked in court if he was guilty of the allegations, including war crimes and premeditated murder, 21-year-old sergeant Vadim Shishimarin responds “yes.”
Shishimarin — from the Siberian region of Irkutsk — was seated in the glass defendant’s box in a Kyiv district court, wearing a blue and gray hoodie.
He looked toward the ground as a prosecutor read out charges against him in Ukrainian, which were then translated into Russian.
