Russian sentenced to life in Ukraine's 1st war crimes trial - The Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A captured Russian soldier who pleaded guilty to killing a Ukrainian civilian was sentenced Monday to life in prison — the maximum — in the first war crimes trial since Moscow invaded Ukraine three months ago.

Cities not under Russian control were constantly shelled, and one Ukrainian military official said Russian forces targeted civilians trying to flee.

Ukrainian civil liberties advocate Volodymyr Yavorskyy said it was “an extremely harsh sentence for one murder during the war.” But Aarif Abraham, a British-based human rights lawyer, said the trial was conducted “with what appears to be full and fair due process,” including access to an attorney.

In his letter, Bondarev said those who conceived the war “want only one thing — to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity.”.

At the Davos forum, Zelenskyy said sanctions against the Kremlin need to go further.

“This is what sanctions should be: They should be maximum, so that Russia and every other potential aggressor that wants to wage a brutal war against its neighbor would clearly know the immediate consequences of their actions,” said Zelenskyy, who received a standing ovation.

The chief of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said heavy fighting continued near the Luhansk region, with Russian forces “trying to break through and capture Lyman city so as to perform its offensive toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.” The Donbas consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

He said the Russian forces were decimating cities in their attempt to take them over.

He said that only about 320,000 people out of the region’s prewar population of 1.6 million remain and that Russian forces continue to target evacuation efforts