Berliner Boersenzeitung - Russian pleads guilty as Ukraine holds first war crimes trial

EUR -
AED 4.32182
AFN 82.262768
ALL 97.889674
AMD 452.732813
ANG 2.10576
AOA 1078.988694
ARS 1460.811676
AUD 1.808653
AWG 2.120912
AZN 2.00049
BAM 1.955078
BBD 2.377293
BDT 144.426666
BGN 1.953881
BHD 0.443514
BIF 3507.653733
BMD 1.17665
BND 1.49951
BOB 8.135996
BRL 6.379682
BSD 1.177415
BTN 100.482455
BWP 15.595169
BYN 3.853026
BYR 23062.349449
BZD 2.364987
CAD 1.604381
CDF 3394.63644
CHF 0.935318
CLF 0.028529
CLP 1094.790994
CNY 8.431175
CNH 8.439702
COP 4697.953547
CRC 594.605689
CUC 1.17665
CUP 31.181238
CVE 110.224296
CZK 24.644916
DJF 209.664157
DKK 7.461411
DOP 70.466972
DZD 152.223964
EGP 58.071582
ERN 17.649757
ETB 163.405301
FJD 2.644228
FKP 0.86208
GBP 0.864073
GEL 3.200704
GGP 0.86208
GHS 12.1855
GIP 0.86208
GMD 84.134958
GNF 10211.619549
GTQ 9.052657
GYD 246.319038
HKD 9.236606
HNL 30.761947
HRK 7.531266
HTG 154.589482
HUF 399.193377
IDR 19104.332557
ILS 3.935696
IMP 0.86208
INR 100.876837
IQD 1542.350097
IRR 49566.401414
ISK 142.398592
JEP 0.86208
JMD 187.92699
JOD 0.834256
JPY 170.717276
KES 152.020778
KGS 102.89788
KHR 4730.454134
KMF 491.840015
KPW 1058.985622
KRW 1608.73416
KWD 0.359055
KYD 0.98125
KZT 611.461992
LAK 25370.954349
LBP 105492.188268
LKR 353.244056
LRD 236.068842
LSL 20.710516
LTL 3.474343
LVL 0.711744
LYD 6.342008
MAD 10.567598
MDL 19.832929
MGA 5298.268577
MKD 61.537902
MMK 2470.426162
MNT 4216.645015
MOP 9.519606
MRU 46.730729
MUR 52.890159
MVR 18.121555
MWK 2041.715435
MXN 21.948944
MYR 4.983096
MZN 75.258156
NAD 20.710516
NGN 1801.326978
NIO 43.325657
NOK 11.876216
NPR 160.77446
NZD 1.957611
OMR 0.452406
PAB 1.17737
PEN 4.174858
PGK 4.86339
PHP 66.61609
PKR 334.240855
PLN 4.244543
PYG 9383.053325
QAR 4.303111
RON 5.057478
RSD 117.184932
RUB 92.830315
RWF 1692.532513
SAR 4.411366
SBD 9.809646
SCR 16.58551
SDG 706.577172
SEK 11.255897
SGD 1.502106
SHP 0.924663
SLE 26.415732
SLL 24673.776596
SOS 672.874393
SRD 43.989059
STD 24354.289331
SVC 10.302327
SYP 15298.723108
SZL 20.695589
THB 38.335862
TJS 11.449918
TMT 4.130043
TND 3.430333
TOP 2.755837
TRY 47.026364
TTD 7.985153
TWD 34.147593
TZS 3107.45741
UAH 49.103536
UGX 4223.440352
USD 1.17665
UYU 47.25255
UZS 14784.79152
VES 128.81205
VND 30767.056806
VUV 139.348855
WST 3.049888
XAF 655.737139
XAG 0.032118
XAU 0.000355
XCD 3.179957
XDR 0.815533
XOF 655.751066
XPF 119.331742
YER 284.925921
ZAR 20.832814
ZMK 10591.263284
ZMW 28.522194
ZWL 378.880975
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Russian pleads guilty as Ukraine holds first war crimes trial
Russian pleads guilty as Ukraine holds first war crimes trial / Photo: Yasuyoshi CHIBA - AFP

Russian pleads guilty as Ukraine holds first war crimes trial

A 21-year-old Russian soldier on Wednesday pleaded guilty to the cold-blooded murder of a Ukrainian civilian, as Kyiv began a judicial reckoning for alleged atrocities after nearly three months of war.

Text size:

Ukraine's first trial for war crimes since Russia invaded on February 24 came as President Vladimir Putin was forced also to reckon with the prospect of NATO vastly expanding its reach on his borders.

Abandoning decades of non-alignment, Finland and Sweden formally submitted a joint application to join the military alliance at its headquarters in Brussels.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the applications would not have been expected a short time ago, "but Putin's appalling ambitions have transformed the geopolitical contours of our continent".

The applications face resistance from NATO member Turkey, which accuses the Nordic neighbours of harbouring anti-Turkish extremists.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded "respect" from NATO over his government's concerns.

But Western allies remain optimistic they can overcome Turkey's objections. For now, several including Britain have offered security guarantees to Finland and Sweden to guard against any Russian aggression.

On the ground, in Ukraine's ruined port city of Mariupol, a unit of soldiers holding out in the Azovstal steelworks have already been bearing the brunt of Russia's aggression for weeks.

But Moscow said that 959 of the troops had surrendered this week.

- 'Beyond normal' -

Kyiv's defence ministry said it would do "everything necessary" to rescue the undisclosed number of personnel still in the sprawling plant's tunnels but admitted there was no military option available.

A pro-Russian separatist leader put the number of Ukrainian fighters still inside at more than 1,000.

"I can't imagine how they did it," said Maksym Malyovanyi, a 23-year-old set designer in Kyiv.

"As I see it, there are normal people, and then there's those guys," he told AFP.

Those who have left Azovstal were taken into Russian captivity, including 80 who were heavily wounded, the Russian defence ministry said.

The ministry, which published images showing soldiers on stretchers, said the injured were transported to a hospital in the eastern Donetsk region controlled by pro-Kremlin rebels.

The defence ministry in Kyiv said it was hoping for an "exchange procedure... to repatriate these Ukrainian heroes as quickly as possible".

But their fate was unclear, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refusing to say whether they would be treated as criminals or prisoners of war.

Putin had "guaranteed that they would be treated according to the relevant international laws", Peskov said.

Russia's alleged disregard for international law has played out in Ukraine with accusations -- including mass rape and massacres -- that are under investigation also by international bodies.

- 'Clear signal' -

Vadim Shishimarin, a shaven-headed sergeant from Irkutsk in Siberia, is expected to be the first of many prosecuted by Ukraine itself. He faces a life sentence after his guilty plea in a cramped Kyiv courtroom.

"By this first trial, we are sending a clear signal that every perpetrator, every person who ordered or assisted in the commission of crimes in Ukraine shall not avoid responsibility," prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said.

Russia's government has no information on the soldier, Peskov said, adding that many such cases reported by Ukraine are "simply fake or staged".

Shishimarin admitted to a war crime in shooting dead an unarmed 62-year-old man in Ukraine's Sumy region four days into the invasion, as the man rode a bicycle.

The International Criminal Court is deploying its largest-ever field team to Ukraine, with 42 investigators, forensic experts and support staff being sent into the field to gather evidence of alleged war crimes.

The US State Department also announced it was creating a special unit to research, document and publicise Russian war crimes.

But Russia says it is bent on eliminating a "Nazi" threat on its borders.

Peskov accused Kyiv of a "complete lack of will" towards peace talks, after Ukrainian negotiator Mykhaylo Podolyak said stop-start dialogue was "on hold", having failed to yield any breakthroughs.

- 'My war is not over' -

The Kremlin also intensified a tit-for-tat round of diplomatic expulsions against European countries, ordering out dozens of personnel from France, Italy and Spain.

Despite their last-ditch resistance in places such as Mariupol, and their successful defence of Kyiv, Ukrainian forces are retreating across swathes of the eastern front.

White smoke from burning fields marks the pace of Russia's advance around the village of Sydorove, on the approaches to the militarily important city of Slovyansk and Ukraine's eastern administrative centre in Kramatorsk.

Army volunteer Yaroslava, 51, sat on a slab of concrete jutting out from the remains of a school in Sydorove where her husband's unit set up camp before it was hit by a Russian strike.

"We had settled in London before the war but felt like we had no choice but to come back," Yaroslava said.

"My two sons have just signed three-year contracts with the army. We will fight. We will still fight," she said without moving her eyes.

"My war is not over."

(T.Renner--BBZ)