Two captured Russian soldiers pleaded guilty Thursday to bombing a town in eastern Ukraine in the second war crimes trial over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At the trial at the Kotelevska district court in central Ukraine, state prosecutors asked that Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov be jailed for 12 years for violating the laws of war.
A defense attorney asked for leniency, saying the two soldiers were following orders and regretted it.
Bobikin and Ivanov, who were in a reinforced glass case, acknowledged being part of an artillery unit that fired on targets in the Kharkiv region of Russia’s Belgorod region.
The bombing destroyed an educational establishment in the city of Derhachi, prosecutors said.
The military, described as an artillery driver and a gunner, were captured after crossing the border and continuing the bombardment, the attorney general’s office said.
“I am completely guilty of the crimes of which I am accused. We fired at Ukraine,” Bobikin told the court in a case that was broadcast live.
Asking not to receive the maximum prison sentence, Ivanov said: “I regret it and ask for the sentence to be reduced.”
The hearing lasted less than an hour. The verdict is scheduled for May 31.
A Ukrainian court sentenced a Russian soldier to life in prison on Monday for killing an unarmed civilian.
Russia said it had no information about the trial and that the absence of a diplomatic mission in Ukraine limited its ability to provide assistance.
Many more such trials are expected in both Ukraine and Russia, which has denied targeting civilians or involvement in war crimes.
Source: CNN Brasil
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