First Russian Soldier Pleads Guilty to War Crimes in Ukraine

A 21-year-old Russian soldier has become the first to plead guilty to war crimes in Ukraine after confessing to shooting an unarmed 62-year-old man. Prosecutors say Vadim Shishimarin was commanding a unit when his convoy came under attack. After he and four other soldiers stole a car and drove to near Chupakhivka, they came across the 62-year-old on a bicycle. Prosecutors say Shishimarin was ordered to kill the civilian and did so using a Kalashnikov assault rifle. With the widow of the man he killed seated just meters away from him in court, the BBC reports that Shishimarin kept his head bowed. “Do you accept your guilt?” the judge asked. “Yes,” Shishimarin replied. “Totally?” the judge asked. “Yes,” he replied quietly. He now faces life in prison under penalties spelled out in the section of the Ukrainian criminal code around customs of war.

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