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Accused soldier Vadim S.
Photo: Tanya Gordienko/EPA
According to media reports, Russian soldier Vadim S., accused of war crimes in Ukraine in Kyiv, has pleaded guilty.
The 21-year-old claimed to have shot dead a 62-year-old civilian in the Sumy region one of the first days after the Russian invasion, British media reports unanimously.
According to the indictment, the incident happened on February 28 in the village of Chupakhivka.
Accordingly, the fatal shot in the head is said to have been fired through the window of a car.
According to the BBC and the newspaper "Mirror", the accused faces life imprisonment.
The trial of the tank commander could be the first in a series of other trials against Russian military personnel.
Ukrainian prosecutors had already announced that they were preparing trials for war crimes against 41 Russian soldiers.
It's about the bombing of civilian facilities, killing of civilians, rape and looting.
It is unclear how many of the suspects are in Ukrainian custody.
The Russian leadership had always denied attacks by its own soldiers on civilians.
However, many such deeds are now so clearly documented - also by independent bodies - that the statements from Moscow have long been refuted.
Human Rights Watch sees evidence of war crimes
Independent of the Kiev trial, the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that it considered it proven that Russian troops had committed war crimes in north-eastern Ukraine.
According to the organization, it found evidence of killings, unlawful detention under inhumane conditions, torture and missing persons at 17 locations.
"The numerous atrocities committed by Russian troops who occupied parts of north-eastern Ukraine at the beginning of the war are heinous, unlawful and cruel," said the organization's Europe and Central Asia director Giorgi Gogia, according to a statement.
He called for immediate investigations and trials.
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