Three months after the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, judges in Kyiv on Monday handed down the first guilty verdict for a Russian soldier tried for war crimes. Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin, 21, was convicted of shooting a 62-year-old civilian, Oleksandr Shelipov, in the northern region of Sumy in the first days of the war. Shishimarin, who had pleaded guilty at the start of the trial last week, was sentenced to life in prison. Judge Serhiy Ahafonov pronounced Shishimarin guilty of violating the laws and customs of war and of committing premeditated murder. The verdict can be appealed. “The defendant admitted his guilt in part, arguing that he had no intention of killing Mr. Shelipov,” Ahafonov said. “The court cannot recognize the sincerity of repentance.” The defendant sat in a glass cage, wearing the same blue-and-gray hoodie he has worn for every trial appearance, his head bowed as an interpreter whispered to him in Russian through an opening in the glass. Aft...
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