ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia (Reuters) – A Ukrainian soldier pleaded “partly guilty” on Tuesday at Russia’s first trial for war crimes in connection with its military campaign in Ukraine.
Anton Cherednik, a member of Ukraine’s naval infantry, faced charges in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don of trying to seize power by force, of using prohibited methods of warfare and of murdering a civilian in Mariupol in March last year in the conflict’s early days.
It was the first time Russia had accused a member of Ukraine’s armed forces of war crimes, according to Russian news outlets and the court’s press service.
Cherednik stood in the enclosed glass dock wearing a dark t-shirt and coat.
Outside the court, his lawyer Vladimir Bakulov said Cherednik had pleaded “partly guilty” and had requested a meeting with the judge to explain his position. The case will resume next week, Russian news agencies reported.
Prosecutors say Cherednik detained two men in Mariupol, a largely Russian-speaking Ukrainian port that fell to Russian forces several weeks later and has now been declared annexed by Moscow.
They say he ordered the men to speak Ukrainian, and shot one of them who did not use the correct pronunciation, the TASS news agency reported.
Russian forces seized Mariupol last May after weeks of attritional fighting.
Ukraine says Russia destroyed 95% of the city and killed tens of thousands of civilians. It accuses Russia of several war crimes there, including the bombing of a maternity hospital and a theatre where hundreds of civilians were sheltering.
Russia says it does not target civilians, and that the incidents were staged by Ukraine.
Ukraine has tried and sentenced a number of Russian soldiers for killing unarmed civilians.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Jake Cordell; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
