Russian soldier confesses to war crimes: killing civilians in Ukraine

Created: 05/18/2022, 17:45

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi, Katharina Haase, Stephanie Munk, Fabian Müller

According to Russia, almost 1,000 Ukrainian fighters surrendered in Mariupol.

Is the city threatened with a brutal occupation by Chechens?

The news ticker.

• Escalated Ukraine conflict:

  Cousin of

  "Putin's bloodhound"

  : Kremlin wants new commander in Mariupol.

• Russia announces new Azov steel numbers: Are Ukraine soldiers now threatened with a "Nazi show trial" in Moscow?

• Brits see "significant problems" with Putin's army:

  auxiliaries and Mariupol frustration

• This is a

  news ticker about the military situation in the Ukraine war.

Update from May 18, 3:45 p.m

.: The first war crimes trial against a Russian soldier has begun in the Ukrainian capital

.

You can find further developments in this news ticker on the military situation in the Ukraine war.

Ukraine-News: Russian soldier confesses to war crimes: killing of civilians in Ukraine

Update from May 18, 3:05 p.m

.: A 21-year-old is accused – who confessed to being guilty right from the start: The first war crimes trial against a Russian soldier began in Kiev this Wednesday.

Vadim Shishimarin admitted to shooting an unarmed civilian in a district court.

This was announced by the Ukrainian authorities.

Shishimarin is accused of shooting dead a 62-year-old from a car in the northern Ukrainian village of Chupakhivka on February 28.

According to the information, the 21-year-old wanted to flee after an attack on his convoy with four comrades, her car was stolen.

The victim was therefore on his bike.

According to the prosecutor, Shishimarin shot the 62-year-old with a Kalashnikov assault rifle on the orders of one of his comrades because he had witnessed the theft of the car.

Ukraine-News: War crimes trial in the Ukraine war: "Mur was ordered to shoot"

“I was ordered to shoot, I shot him once.

He fell and we drove on," Shishimarin said in a video released by the Ukrainian authorities in early May.

In it, he also said he came to Ukraine to "support his mother financially."

The Kremlin said on Wednesday it had no information on the case.

Shishimarin's lawyer Viktor Owsiannikov described the process as a challenge: "There is no relevant legal practice or judgments on such cases." The soldier from Irkutsk in Siberia faces a life sentence for war crimes and murder.

Ukraine War News: Moscow announces introduction of new laser weapon

Update from May 18, 2:49 p.m

.: New high-power lasers for Putin's army?

According to their own statements, Russia is just getting them off the ground.

They are being built "practically ready for series production," said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borissov on Wednesday, according to the Tass news agency.

also read

Russian material offensive in the east?

Putin sends the "Terminator" to war

Snake Island: Report lists Russian losses - German Eurofighters nearby with "alert starts"

According to Borisov, the new laser weapon has a range of five kilometers and can shoot down drones at this altitude.

The new system was tested on Tuesday and is said to have burned a drone within five seconds.

Now it is slowly being introduced into the armed forces.

"The first prototypes are already being used," said Borisov.

The laser is intended to replace anti-aircraft missiles, which are significantly more expensive to purchase.

The information could not be verified.

No pictures were shown at Borisov's press conference near Moscow either.

Ukraine war: Human Rights Watch releases new war crimes report

Update from May 18, 2:19 p.m

.: Human Rights Watch sees Russian war crimes in northeastern Ukraine as proven.

According to the international human rights organization, evidence was found at 17 locations.

The allegations of the NGO:

• killings

• unlawful detention in inhumane conditions

• torture

• missing persons cases

A total of 65 survivors, family members and other witnesses were interviewed between April 10 and May 10 for the new report.

People were shot for possessing working cell phones, old military uniforms or suspected of having been in the Ukrainian military.

Before they left, Russian soldiers had killed mostly men, some of them at random.

It was even shot at playing children.

Those arrested had to endure in a confined space in cold cellars, sometimes without food.

Buckets served as toilets.

The surviving victims described torture with electric batons and mock executions.

"The numerous atrocities" are "unlawful and cruel," said the organization's Europe and Central Asia director, Giorgi Gogia.

He called for immediate investigations and trials.

Ukraine War News: Cousin of Putin "bloodhound" Kadyrov is to be given rule over Mariupol

Update from May 18, 11:54 a.m .:

According to the British Ministry of Defense, Russia has apparently appointed the cousin of Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov, Adam Delimkhanov, as commander in Mariupol.

Kadyrov himself is seen as a brutal ruler and loyal to Putin.

He is often referred to as Putin's "bloodhound" because of his notorious cruelty.

The already completely devastated city of Mariupol could face a brutal reign if his cousin were sent.

According to a report by

, there are indications that Putin even wants to hand over control of the besieged city entirely to the Chechen paramilitaries.

The Ukrainian online newspaper

reports on this, citing statements made by Mariupol's mayoral adviser, Petro Andryushchenko.

He wrote via Telegram that he had been informed by the Russian side that the new "supervisors" of Mariupol should be Chechens.

“Mariupol turned out to be too unfriendly and nationalistic.

In order to intimidate and suppress the resistance, Mariupol is handed over to the Kadyrovists.

Including the port and the right to plunder.

We have now received partial confirmation of this," wrote Andryushchenko on Telegram.

According to the British Defense Ministry, Putin would also deploy more fighters from Chechnya in the Ukraine war to compensate for the losses in his own troops.

They would probably consist of both volunteers and units of the National Guard, which otherwise serve to protect the rule of ruler Kadyrov

.

Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov (right) and his cousin Adam Delimkhanov © Yelena Afonina/Imago

Update from May 18, 11:02 a.m .:

It is currently unclear how many fighters are currently still on the extensive Azovstal factory site in Mariupol.

According to different estimates, there were between 1,000 and 2,500 before the evacuation mission began.

The last civilians had already been brought to safety around a week and a half ago with international help.

Russia announces new Azov steel numbers: Are Ukraine soldiers now threatened with a "Nazi show trial" in Moscow?

Update from May 18, 10:16 a.m .:

According to Russian information, 959 Ukrainian fighters from the besieged Azovstal steelworks have surrendered in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol since the beginning of the week.

According to the Interfax agency, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow announced on Wednesday that 80 of them were injured.

There was initially no confirmation of this number from the Ukrainian side.

Russia's Defense Ministry also published a video on the online service Telegram, which is said to show some of the men and women who surrendered.

Some of them walked on crutches, wore bandages, or hobbled.

Ukraine hopes to exchange Ukrainian fighters from the Mariupol steelworks for Russian prisoners of war.

Russia's military initially left such a step open.

It is to be feared that Russia will punish the captured fighters with death.

Statements from the Russian Duma to that effect make one sit up and take notice: the chairman of the Russian lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, demanded, for example, that "Nazi criminals" should not be considered for prisoner exchanges.

“Nazi criminals are not subject to exchange.

These are war criminals and we must do everything we can to bring them to justice.”

In the news channel ntv, the station's Moscow correspondent, Rainer Munz, said that one had to "expect the worst that could happen." It was possible that Putin's government, which was also viewed with great skepticism internationally, declared a terrorist organization and Kind of "Nazi show trial" organize.

Moscow has repeatedly labeled the defenders of the Azov Steel Plant as Nazis.

The British see "significant problems" with Putin's army in the Ukraine war: auxiliary troops and Mariupol frustration

Update from May 18, 9:18 a.m

.: According to British findings, the Russian army has major problems with supplies and troop reinforcements in the Ukraine war.

The Ministry of Defense in London said on Wednesday that Russia would have to deploy many auxiliary troops to break down the Ukrainian resistance - including thousands of fighters from the autonomous republic of Chechnya.

"The combat deployment of such diverse personnel demonstrates Russia's significant resource problems in Ukraine and likely contributes to a patchy command that continues to impede Russian operations."

Although Russian troops had encircled the strategically important port city of Mariupol for more than a decade, fierce Ukrainian resistance prevented full Russian control.

This led to frustration and high losses for Russian troops, it said, citing intelligence information.

The steelworks in the conquered port city of Mariupol has become a symbol of resistance.

The Chechen forces would primarily be deployed around the embattled port city of Mariupol and in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk.

They are likely to be made up of both volunteers and National Guard units otherwise used to protect ruler Ramzan Kadyrov.

War in Ukraine: Situation in Mariupol remains unclear - 260 soldiers from steel works in Russian captivity

Update from May 18, 6:19 a.m .:

After the evacuation of a good 260 Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov steel plant in Mariupol, the location of the city’s remaining defenders in the huge industrial plant remains unclear.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyj said on Wednesday night that influential international mediators were involved in the efforts to rescue them.

Fighting continues in eastern Ukraine, while Russian airstrikes are taking place in other regions.

The 260 soldiers who left the Azovstal plant on Tuesday night went into Russian captivity.

Kyiv hopes to be exchanged for Russian prisoners of war at a later date, but the Russian military initially left such a step open.

Moscow released a video purporting to show the Ukrainians being arrested, receiving medical treatment and the evacuation of the injured.

A good 50 of the soldiers are said to be seriously wounded.

Russian deputy head of government in the occupied Cherson region - connection to Russia planned

Russia is determined to tie the occupied Cherson region in southern Ukraine to itself.

The region around the port city will have a "worthy place in our Russian family," said Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Marat Chusnullin during a visit to Cherson on Tuesday.

The Russian state agency Ria Novosti quoted him as saying that people will live and work together in the future.

The Ukrainian government, on the other hand, is convinced that a Russification of the Cherson region will fail.

According to the authorities, seven civilians were killed on Tuesday in the Donetsk region, which was fought over by Russian and Ukrainian troops.

Six others were injured, Ukrainian military governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told the Telegram news service.

He accused Russian troops of killing the people.

Zelenskyi listed rocket attacks and bombardments in the Lviv, Sumy, Chernihiv and Luhansk regions.

The Russian military wants to compensate for the failures in the east and south.

Update from May 17, 9:25 p.m .:

Russian authorities in two regions reported shelling from Ukrainian territory on Tuesday in the Ukraine war.

One person in a village in the Belgorod region was slightly injured, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said, according to the TASS news agency.

A border post was shot at in the Kursk region.

According to the first findings, no one was injured, said the Governor of Kursk, Roman Starowoit.

The border post has been fired at for the fourth time since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly reported attacks from Ukraine in border areas, including on oil infrastructure.

At the time, Ukrainian authorities would neither confirm nor deny that their military was behind the attacks.

Ukraine war: EU foreign policy chief reports "world record casualties" in the Russian army

Update from May 17, 8:42 p.m .:

According to their own statements, the Ukrainian military was able to push back Russian soldiers in front of the city of Sievjerodonetsk in the east of the country.

The General Staff stated in its situation report: "Near the village of Syrotyne, the Russian conquerors suffered losses and retreated."

There were also military successes in the Luhansk region.

The governor Serhiy Hajdaj said that several houses in Girske and Zolotoye had been destroyed by artillery fire, but the Russians had had to withdraw from there.

"Enemy casualties are high," Hajdaj wrote on his Telegram channel.

The information could not be independently verified.

Meanwhile, the Russian side is reporting numerous rocket attacks on various parts of Ukraine.

The targets were Ukrainian reservists and foreign military technology, and arms shipments from the United States and Europe were destroyed, according to a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry.

More than 470 Ukrainian militants have been killed in the past 24 hours.

Again, this information cannot be independently verified.

Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is reporting "impressive losses" by the Russian army.

"If it's true that Russia has lost 15 percent of its troops since the war began, that's a world record for casualties for an army invading a country," Borrell said after a meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels.

He does not dare to hypothesize how long Russia can sustain such losses.

Prisoner swap fails?

Russian negotiator calls for death penalty for Azov militants

Update from May 17, 4:28 p.m .:

The Ukrainian government plans to exchange captured soldiers.

Among them are said to be around 260 soldiers from the Azowstal steelworks.

More than 50 of them, some seriously wounded, have been taken to Novoazovsk, about 40 kilometers east of Mariupol, according to Russian sources.

There their wounds are to be treated.

200 more fighters were brought to Olenivka.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized in his daily video address that Ukraine needs its heroes back alive.

But the Russian side is apparently not going into the plans.

There are reports of a ban on prisoner exchanges, and even the death penalty is openly debated in the country.

The speaker of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, announced during a session of the parliament that the Ukrainian "Nazi criminals" should not be exchanged for captured Russians and that a corresponding decision should be prepared.

Volodin subsequently became even clearer: "These are war criminals and we must do everything we can to bring them to justice."

Meanwhile, the Russian negotiator Leonid Slutski is said to have demanded the death penalty for the Ukrainian prisoners.

According to Slutski, the Azov fighters have no right to life.

"They do not deserve to live in the face of the monstrous human rights crimes they have committed and continue to commit against our prisoners," said the negotiator, who is negotiating on behalf of Russia with Ukraine.

The death penalty is not currently used in Russia, but former President Dmitry Medvedev brought it back into play after Russia's war of aggression began.

Ukraine-Russia-News: Deal in Mariupol is under way - Putin accuses the West of "war".

Update from May 17, 2:00 p.m.:

It is the last bastion in Mariupol: the Azovstal steelworks.

Ukrainian soldiers have been holding out in the industrial area for weeks, and now the last of them are to be rescued.

"We are working on further stages of the humanitarian operation," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram on Tuesday.

Apparently there is a deal between Kyiv and Moscow for the evacuation.

The 52 seriously injured people who were brought out of the steel mill on Monday would soon be exchanged for Russian prisoners of war, she said.

There was no further confirmation from the Russian side.

The day before, a total of around 260 Ukrainians who had previously holed up on the factory premises surrendered.

The Ministry of Defense in Kyiv justified the step with the "completion of combat tasks".

Ukraine-Russia-News: Putin like a general - the head of the Kremlin now apparently intervenes directly

First report:

Munich - In the Ukraine war, the heavy clashes between the Ukrainian military and Russian troops continue.

This map shows where the Ukraine war is raging.

The fighting in eastern Ukraine hit Russia hard.

So far, Russian troops have been unsuccessful in encircling the outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers while Ukrainian units are advancing in Kharkiv.

In addition, Russia loses an extremely large number of soldiers and military equipment, for example in an attempt to cross the Severskyi Donets River, which ended in a debacle.

Aerial photographs from the area showed more than 70 destroyed Russian military vehicles in almost one spot.

The great success in the Donbass expected by Moscow has not materialized so far.

Ukraine war: Putin intervenes in fighting - "Decisions like colonel or brigadier general"

A report in the British newspaper

now suggests that the cause of the Russian army's military disaster may lie squarely within the Kremlin itself.

Accordingly, the Russian ruler Vladimir Putin is personally heavily involved in the fighting and even makes tactical decisions that dictate the movement of Russian soldiers in the field, the British newspaper reported, citing anonymous Western sources.

Putin is involved in this process together with the chief of staff Valeriy Gerasimov.

"We think Putin and Gerasimov are involved in tactical decision-making at a level that we would normally expect from a colonel or brigadier general," a Western military source told

.

The Russian military does not actually operate in such a way, the newspaper wrote.

But the faltering invasion of Ukraine, for example, has forced the Russian military to send generals closer to the front line.

According to the Ukrainian military, 12 Russian generals have been killed in combat so far.

In addition, Putin's intervention is not said to be particularly helpful.

Military expert Ben Barry told the

: "A head of government should have better things to do than make military decisions.

He should set the political strategy instead of getting bogged down in day-to-day business."

War in Ukraine: Evacuation from Azovstal - Russia and Ukraine want to exchange soldiers

Meanwhile, more than 260 Ukrainian soldiers were evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, which had been under Russian siege for weeks, and taken to Russian-controlled territory.

53 seriously injured were taken to Novoazovsk and 211 other soldiers to Olenivka for treatment, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said.

Efforts to evacuate the remaining soldiers should continue, according to Ukrainian sources on Tuesday

.

Novoazovsk and Olenivka are in areas under Russian military control.

The soldiers are to be “exchanged” at a later date, as Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar said in a video message.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Kyiv and Moscow have already made several prisoner exchanges.

The Russian Defense Ministry earlier on Monday announced a ceasefire in Mariupol to get injured Ukrainian soldiers out of the Azov-Stahl group's steel mill.

Moscow had named "medical facilities" in Novoazovsk as the target of the evacuation operation.