A Russian soldier accused of killing a civilian pleads guilty in a Kyiv court.

A Russian soldier pleaded guilty in a Kyiv court on Wednesday to having shot a civilian, in the first trial Ukraine has conducted for an act that could be considered a war crime since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

The soldier, Sgt. Vadim Shyshimarin, pleaded guilty to shooting a 62-year-old man on a bicycle in the village of Chupakhivka in the Sumy region, about 200 miles east of Kyiv, four days after Russia’s full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24.

Asked by the presiding judge whether he accepted his guilt, Sergeant Shyshimarin said: “Yes. Fully yes.”

The trial has drawn widespread media and public interest. On Wednesday, the courtroom was crowded with journalists, and the trial is being broadcast on YouTube.

The prosecutor, Andriy Sinyuk, described the hearing as an “unprecedented procedure” in which “a serviceman of a different country is accused of murdering a civilian of Ukraine.” Read more

@nytimes