Russian sentenced to life in Ukraine’s 1st war crimes trial

By ELENA BECATOROS, OLEKSANDR STASHEVSKYI and RICARDO MAZALAN
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian soldier who pleaded guilty to killing a Ukrainian civilian was sentenced to life in prison. The sentencing Monday comes amid signs the Kremlin may hold trials of its own, particularly against the captured Ukrainian fighters who held out at Mariupol’s steel plant. Meanwhile, in a rare public expression of opposition to the war from the ranks of the Russian elite, a veteran diplomat resigned and sent a letter to foreign colleagues in which he said he had never been so ashamed of his country as he was on the day Moscow invaded. On the battlefield, heavy fighting raged in the Donbas in the east, where Moscow’s forces have stepped up bombardments.