On Thursday, the court gathered for the second time in the case of the 21-year-old Russian car driver who is accused of having murdered a 62-year-old civilian unarmed Ukrainian man in Chupakhivka on February 28 this year.
The civilian-clad young man kept his head bowed when the victim’s widow, Katerina Shalipova, spoke to him behind the glass in the courtroom.
– Please tell me, do you regret the crime you have committed? Shalipova asked the accused, reports BBC.
The man responded to the confrontation by asking for forgiveness.
– Yes, I admit guilt. I understand that you will not be able to forgive me. I apologize for everything I have done, said the Russian soldier from the glass cage to the mourning woman, reports BBC.
The widow Katerina Shalipova said in court that she would not oppose a prisoner exchange with Russia in which the 21-year-old Russian soldier might be released against the release of the Ukrainian soldiers who capitulated from the Mariupol steelworks.
But from the Kremlin, silence echoes. Russia says it has not received any information about the trial and that Ukraine’s absence in the diplomatic talks limits the country’s ability to provide the accused Russian soldier with legal assistance, writes The Guardian.
The Russian soldier is standing accused of firing several shots from a car at the head of the 62-year-old civilian man with an automatic rifle. According to the prosecutor, the soldier obeyed orders when he fired. The prosecution team has demanded that the man be sentenced to life in prison.
The court has postponed the trial until tomorrow, Friday. The accused soldier was not considered by the judges to be ready to participate in the court’s final hearing.
Ukraine has registered more than 11,000 suspected war crimes committed by the Russian military. Russia denies targeting civilians in the war.
Read more: Russian soldier admits guilt in first trial for war crimes