Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old tank commander, had pleaded guilty to killing the 62-year-old man in a village in northeastern Ukraine on February 28 after being ordered to shoot at him from a car, the Reuters news agency reported.
The verdict was delivered after Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Iryna Venediktova announced earlier this month that the first Russian soldier would stand trial in Ukraine for war crimes since Russia invaded the country on February 24.
Investigators said at the time that Shisimarin was one of five Russian soldiers who on February 28 stole a car while escaping the Ukrainian army and drove into the village of Chupakhivka in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.
When they saw an unarmed elderly resident with a bicycle, Shysimarin was ordered to shoot the man, according to Polish state news agency PAP.
Monday is day 89 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters