Updated May 18, 2022 - World

Russian soldier pleads guilty to killing unarmed civilian

Jacob Knutson

A Ukrainian flag at half-mast in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on May 5. Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images

A 21-year-old Russian soldier on trial in Kyiv for committing war crimes during Moscow's invasion of Ukraine pleaded guilty to killing an unarmed civilian in the Sumy region, according to CNN.

Why it matters: Vadim Shishimarin's war crimes trial is believed to be the first since the start of Russia's invasion in February.

He was accused by Ukraine's prosecutor general of firing several shots at and killing an unarmed 62-year-old resident riding a bicycle by the roadside in a Sumy village.

The big picture: Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said in early April that her office had then opened 5,600 cases of alleged war crimes committed by Russian soldiers since the start of the invasion.

It filed criminal charges against 10 Russian soldiers accused of war crimes in Bucha, where at least 300 Ukrainians were tortured and killed while Russia occupied the suburb of Kyiv.
The International Criminal Court last month launched an investigation into allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Ukraine.
The United Nations Human Rights Council voted last week to launch a probe into alleged "abuses of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law" by Russian troops in the Kyiv region.
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said in April that the world body has seen evidence of war crimes in Ukraine.

Go deeper: What counts as a war crime and why they're so hard to prosecute

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Russian soldier pleads guilty to killing unarmed civilian

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