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Russian soldier pleads guilty to killing civilian in war crimes case

A Russian soldier has pleaded guilty to killing a civilian in a Kyiv war crimes trial, The Associated Press reported.

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Sgt. Vadim Shyshimarin, 21, was accused of shooting a 62-year-old Ukrainian man in the head at the start of the Russian invasion, NBC News reported.

The man was unarmed and was shot through an open car window, CNN and the AP reported.

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Shyshimarin is the first soldier to be put on trial for war crimes since the invasion started in February.

The soldier said “fully” guilty when he was asked how he pleaded, standing in a glass box in a packed Kyiv courtroom. The family of the man whom Shyshimarin was accused of killing was also in the courtroom and had been scheduled to testify, CNN reported.

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Shyshimarin will be questioned later and faces life in prison.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General said that her office was preparing war crimes cases against 41 Russian soldiers accused of various offenses such as bombing civilian infrastructure, killing civilians, rape and looting, the AP reported.