The 21-year-old sergeant shot the man who spoke to his cell phone with an assault rifle in the head, the indictment states. In Ukraine, more than 11,000 suspected war criminals of Russian soldiers are already under investigation.
A war crimes trial against a Russian soldier is scheduled to begin today in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
A sergeant in the Russian army is charged with murder. A 21-year-old Russian soldier was shot dead by a 62-year-old unarmed man in the village of Chupahivka in northeastern Ukraine on 28 February.
This is the first time that a soldier from the Russian army has been brought to justice in Ukraine during the war of aggression launched by Russia on 24 February.
The accused can receive a life sentence in court.
A soldier sitting in a stolen car was ordered to shoot the cyclist
Authorities said the shooter was with his group fleeing the Ukrainian counterattack. Russian soldiers first fired a civilian car, after which five soldiers stole it for their use.
Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova says that while driving, the soldiers saw a man riding a bike on the side of the road and talking on a cell phone. According to Venediktova, the accused was ordered to kill the man so that he would not report the Russian soldiers to the Ukrainian army. So far, it has not been told who gave the kill order.
The prosecutor said the sergeant shot the 62-year-old man in the head with an AK-47 assault rifle. The victim was killed right near his home.
Ukrainian authorities have not said how the suspect was caught. The prosecutor has not specified what matters in the evidence led to the war crimes charge.
A Russian soldier’s defense lawyer told news agency AP yesterday that his principal has not yet decided how he will respond to the charge in court.
More than 11,000 war crimes suspects in investigation, more than 600 suspects identified
The number of war crimes suspects being investigated is growing all the time in Ukraine as the atrocities committed by Russian forces are exposed and Russia continues its war of aggression.
Attorney General Iryna Venediktova’s office is investigating more than 11,000 suspects in the war crimes of Russian forces. More than 600 war crimes suspects have been identified. In addition to the soldiers, the suspects include Russian authorities.
Many of the suspected war crimes were uncovered when civilian bodies were found in the streets and mass graves of towns near Kiev after Russia withdrew in April.
The Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties has said it is monitoring the legality of the trial of the first Russian soldier.
More cruelty to Russian soldiers will be heard in court in the near future
In another case, a Russian soldier is suspected of murder and rape. According to the indictment, a soldier broke into a house in a village near Kiev in March. He then murdered the man who lived in the house and raped the man’s wife several times.
More and more information is being gathered about the atrocities of the Russian military.
The BBC has taken a shocking picture of surveillance cameras from what happened.