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A court in Kiev has sentenced 21-year-old Russian Vadim Shishimari to life in prison for killing an unarmed civilian in Ukraine.
This is also the first war crimes trial since the start of the Russian occupation of Ukraine on February 24.
At a high-profile hearing, judges in Kiev’s Solomyanka district convicted a Russian sergeant who had previously pleaded guilty to killing 62-year-old Ukrainian Oleksandr Shelypov.
He was shot while riding his bicycle in the northwestern Sumi region.
Ukraine has accused Russia of atrocities against civilians during the three months of the occupation and has said it has identified more than 10,000 possible war crimes.
Independent media and human rights groups have also collected evidence that Moscow has targeted civilians in the fighting.
Russia has denied involvement in war crimes.
Judge Serhiy Agafonov said Shishimarin had carried out a “criminal order” given to him by a high-ranking soldier.
He is believed to have committed the murder with an automatic weapon.
Shishimarin told the court last week that he did not want to kill Shelypov and that he was very sorry that something like this had happened.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on February 24 what he calls a “special military operation” to demilitarize Ukraine.
The West has responded with harsh sanctions against Russia, targeting the state’s economy and Russian oligarchs.
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