Russia-Ukraine War: Two Russian soldiers plead guilty to war crimes in eastern Ukraine

In the second war crimes trial since Russian troops invaded Ukraine, two captured Russian soldiers pleaded guilty to bombarding a town in eastern Ukraine, the Guardian reported on May 26. Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov admitted to being members of an artillery regiment that fired at targets in Kharkiv from Russia's Belgorod area.

According to the prosecutors, the shelling destroyed an educational facility in the town of Derhachi. After crossing the border and continuing the firing, Bobikin and Ivanov, identified as an artillery driver and a gunner, were apprehended, according to the prosecutor general's office.

Bobikin told the court during his trial in the Kotelevska district court in central Ukraine, "I am completely guilty of the crimes of which I am accused. We fired at Ukraine from Russia." Whereas, Ivanov requested the court not to give him the maximum sentence, telling the judge, "I repent and ask for a reduction in the sentence."

Prosecutors requested that the two be imprisoned for 12 years for breaking the laws of war. While, on the other hand, a defence attorney requested mercy, claiming that two soldiers had been obeying orders and had repented. The decision is due on May 31. On May 25, eight more Russians were charged with war crimes in Ukraine. During the Russian takeover of the Kyiv region, five Russian soldiers and three PMC Wagner mercenaries were accused of torturing and killing civilians.

Notably, the Wagner Group is a Russian paramilitary organisation, also known as a private military firm, that rose to prominence during the Donbass conflict in Ukraine in 2014 and 2015 as a result of its support for separatist forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. Furthermore, on May 24, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova announced the launch of 49 war crimes trials in connection with Russia's invasion of the country.

Russia-Ukraine War

On May 25, Ukraine's Joint Task Forces claimed that Russian troops shelled the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, killing six people and injuring 12. According to the Ukrainian military, Russian forces shelled more than 40 towns in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region, threatening to cut off the last major escape route for civilians trapped in the war-torn regions.

Russian troops shelled 41 settlements in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, according to a Facebook post by the Joint Task Force of Ukraine's Armed Forces. Moreover, after failing to take control of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, or its second-largest city, Kharkiv, Russia is now attempting to take complete control of the Donbas, which consists of two eastern provinces claimed by the Kremlin on behalf of separatists.

Image: AP