Two Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine pleaded guilty today to bombing a city on the territory of eastern Ukraine. The military claimed responsibility for the attack in the second war crimes trial in the Moscow-Kyiv conflict.
In the case, heard in the Kotelevska district court in central Ukraine, state prosecutors wanted Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov to be sentenced to 12 years in prison for violating the laws of war.
A defense lawyer asked for leniency, saying that the two soldiers followed the Russian government’s orders and regretted it.
Housed in a reinforced glass case, Bobikin and Ivanov admitted they were part of an artillery unit firing at targets in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine’s second largest city after Kiev. The bombing destroyed an educational establishment in the city of Dergachi, prosecutors said.
The attorney general’s office said the army, identified as the artillery driver and gunner, was captured after crossing the border and continuing the shelling.
“I am completely guilty of the crimes I was charged with. We shot from Russia to Ukraine,” Bobikin said in a case broadcast live to the court.
Asking not to receive the maximum prison sentence, Ivanov said: “I regret it and ask that the sentence be reduced.” The hearing took less than an hour. The decision 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 case and that the absence of a diplomatic mission in Ukraine limited its ability to provide assistance.
source: Noticias
