(Kyiv) A Russian soldier was sentenced Monday in Kyiv to life in prison for the murder of a civilian, the first conviction for war crimes in Ukraine since the Moscow offensive, as President Zelensky called for international sanctions “ maximum” and the end of all trade with Russia.
Posted at 7:18 a.m.
Updated at 9:28 a.m.
This appeal by the Ukrainian head of state, during a videoconference at the opening of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, comes three months after the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, and at a time when the authorities Ukrainians say they are suffering “more and more” in the Donbass in the face of the firepower of Russian troops.
In Kyiv, the verdict in the first war crimes trial is in. A 21-year-old Russian soldier who admitted killing a 62-year-old civilian who was pushing his bicycle while on the phone at the start of the Russian offensive has been found guilty by a court in the capital.
The youthful-faced, shaven-headed soldier, dressed in a gray and blue sweater, listened to the verdict, alone in a glass box. “The murder was committed with direct intent,” the judge said. “Chichimarine violated the laws and customs of war,” he continued.
During the trial last week, Vadim Chichimarine admitted to having shot the sexagenarian but said he was “sincerely sorry” and had “asked forgiveness” from the victim’s widow, justifying his act by the “orders” received at that time. the.
Arguments swept away by the prosecution who had demanded life imprisonment. “He was carrying out a criminal order and was well aware of it,” said one of the prosecutors.
The soldier will appeal his sentence, according to his lawyer.
According to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, the country has opened more than 12,000 war crimes investigations since the start of the conflict.
More weapons
In his speech broadcast in Davos (Switzerland) before the gratin of the world economy, Volodymyr Zelensky urged the international community to take “maximum” sanctions and to have “no more trade with Russia”.
PHOTO ARND WIEGMANN, REUTERS
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
He also called for more weapons for his country.
Ukraine needs all the weapons we ask for, not just the ones that have been supplied.
Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine
From Tokyo, US President Joe Biden has also maintained pressure on Moscow, recalling that Russia must “pay a long-term price” in terms of sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies, in view of its “barbarism in Ukraine “.
“It’s not just about Ukraine,” insisted the American president. Because if “the sanctions were not maintained in many respects, then what signal would that send to China about the cost of an attempt to take Taiwan by force? »
A “real war”
Western countries have implemented a whole series of economic sanctions against Russia. But if the United States and the United Kingdom have given up importing Russian oil, the European Union is struggling to agree on the subject, because some of its member countries are very dependent on gas and oil. Russians.
At the end of an unsuccessful meeting on the subject a week ago in Brussels, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell conceded that finalizing the 6and sanctions package against Russia would take “time”. An extraordinary European summit is scheduled for May 30 and 31.
“We understand that Europe is trying to estimate the cost this will have for its economy. But on the other side, there is Ukraine, there is a real war,” insisted Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who also came to Davos.
“Russia wants to destroy Ukraine […] and threatens the world with famine. We definitely don’t have time for analysis. We need to cut Russia off from the civilized world, completely,” she said.
Severodonetsk as Mariupol
On the ground, Kyiv admitted that the situation was becoming “more and more difficult” in the Donbass (east) where Moscow is bombarding Severodonetsk intensely.
PHOTO ARIS MESSINIS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A bridge that connects Lysytchansk to Severodonetsk, in the Luhansk region, was destroyed by Russian strikes.
“All Russian forces are concentrated in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions,” Sergiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, said on Telegram.
Same with armament. “Everything is concentrated here,” added the governor, including the famous S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft and anti-missile complexes, equivalent to the American Patriots.
Crucial point of this battle of Donbass, Severodonetsk, in the Luhansk region, is under fire from Moscow “24 hours a day”, was indignant Mr. Gaïdaï.
“They are using scorched earth tactics, they are deliberately destroying the city” with aerial bombardments, multiple rocket launchers, mortars or tanks firing at buildings, he added.
The Ukrainian army announced on Facebook on Sunday at least seven civilians killed and eight others injured in bombings in 45 municipalities in the Donetsk region.
The fate of Severodonetsk resembles that of Mariupol, which today presents an apocalyptic landscape after several weeks of siege. Several neighborhoods are nothing but a tangle of sheet metal and debris, bars of buildings ripped open by missiles and shells.
President Zelensky also announced that 87 people had died in a Russian attack on May 17 against a military base in the north of the country, according to a new report which makes it one of the deadliest Russian bombardments since the beginning of the war. war.