Russian army Sergeant Vadim Shishimarin, 21, is seen behind a glass during a court hearing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 18, 2022. The Russian soldier has gone on trial in Ukraine for the killing of an unarmed civilian. The case that opened in Kyiv marked the first time a member of the Russian military has been prosecuted for a war crime since Russia invaded Ukraine 11 weeks ago. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Russia Ukraine War
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian soldier who pleaded guilty to killing a Ukrainian civilian was sentenced to life in prison. The sentencing Monday came in the first war crimes trial since Moscow invaded three months ago. That war has unleashed a brutal conflict that has led to accusations of atrocities, left thousands dead, driven millions from their homes and flattened whole swaths of cities. In a rare public expression of opposition to the war from the ranks of the Russian elite, a veteran diplomat resigned and sent a letter to foreign colleagues in which he said he had never been so ashamed as on the day Moscow invaded. Since then, a stiff Ukrainian resistance has bogged Russian troops down as they attempt to press an offensive in the eastern Donbas region.
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