A Russian tank commander has been sentenced to life in prison for killing an unarmed civilian, in the first war crimes trial of the conflict in Ukraine.
Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old Russian soldier, had pleaded guilty to killing Oleksandr Shelipov, 62, in the northeastern Ukrainian village of Chupakhivka on February 28 after being ordered to shoot.
A Ukrainian court sentenced him to life in prison on Monday morning.
Judge Serhiy Agafonov said Shishimarin, carrying out a “criminal order” by a soldier of higher rank, had fired several shots at the victim’s head from an automatic weapon.
Shishimarin, wearing a blue and grey hooded sweatshirt, watched proceedings silently from a reinforced glass box in the courtroom and showed no emotion as the verdict was read out.
The trial is significant for Ukraine, which has accused Russia of atrocities and brutality against civilians during the invasion and said it has identified more than 10,000 possible war crimes. Russia has denied targeting civilians.
Follow the latest updates below.
12:24 PM
Ukraine says 87 were killed in Russian air strike last week
Some 87 people were killed in a Russian air strike in the town of Desna last Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, in what would be Ukraine’s biggest military death toll in a single strike of the war.
On the day of the attack, a Russian military spokesman said high-precision, long-range missiles had hit Ukrainian reserves forces at a training centre near Desna, in the northern region of Chernihiv, and at one other site.
Zelensky did not specify if the casualties from the attack in Desna were military or civilian. There is a military barracks and training base near the town.
“Today we completed work at Desna. In Desna under the rubble there were 87 casualties. 87 corpses,” Zelensky said on Monday during an address by videolink to a meeting of global business leaders at Davos.
Ukrainian authorities had said last week that eight people were killed in the strike. At least 52 people were killed at a train station in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk in April.
12:16 PM
In pictures: Russian tank commander sentenced to life for war crimes
11:52 AM
Zelensky tells Davos: send us weapons, stop Russia trade
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has used the Davos summit of world leaders to issue a fresh appeal for more weapons for his country and “maximum” sanctions against Moscow.
Speaking by videolink, Zelensky told the World Economic Forum that tens of thousands of lives would have been saved if Kyiv had received “100 per cent of our needs at once back in February”, when Russia invaded.
“This is why Ukraine needs all the weapons that we ask (for), not just the ones that have been provided,” said Zelensky.
He called for an oil embargo on Russia, punitive measures against all its banks and the shunning of its IT sector, adding that all foreign companies should leave the country.
“There should not be any trade with Russia,” he told the gathering of the world’s political and business elites. “I believe there are still no such sanctions against Russia – and there should be.”
11:36 AM
Lukashenko accuses West of attempting to dismember Ukraine
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday that he was concerned about what he called moves by the West to “dismember” Ukraine, and accused Poland of seeking to seize the Western part of the country.
In a strongly-worded televised meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said Kyiv would eventually have to ask for help in preventing the seizure of western Ukraine. He offered no evidence for these claims.
Belarus has been a close ally of Moscow during the war.
11:05 AM
Russian death toll ‘probably the same now as its nine-year war in Afghanistan’
Russian troop casualties in Ukraine “likely” match the death toll from Soviet Union’s nine-year war in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has said.
In an intelligence update on Monday morning, the MoD claimed that in the first three months of fighting, Russia “has likely suffered a similar death toll to that experienced by the Soviet Union during its nine year war in Afghanistan”.
It said that a combination of “poor low-level tactics, limited air cover, a lack of flexibility, and a command approach which is prepared to reinforce failure and repeat mistakes” has led to the high casualty rate, which continues to rise in the Donbas offensive.
About 15,000 Soviet soldiers were killed and around 35,000 wounded during the nine-year war in Afghanistan, which ended in 1989.
Ukraine’s government claims over 27,000 Russian troops have been killed in the country since the invasion began in February but Russia has not updated its official death toll since late March when it stood at over 1,351.
The MoD added that Russian public “dissatisfaction with the war” and a willingness to voice it “may grow” as casualties suffered in Ukraine continue to rise.
10:42 AM
Here are more details on the first war crimes trial against Russia’s invasion
A Ukrainian court has sentenced a 21-year-old Russian soldier to life in prison for killing a Ukrainian civilian, in the first war crimes trial since Russia’s invasion.
Sgt Vadim Shishimarin was accused of shooting a Ukrainian civilian in the head in a village in the northeastern Sumy region in the early days of the war.
He pleaded guilty and testified that he shot the man after being ordered to do so.
He told the court that an officer insisted that the Ukrainian man, who was speaking on his cellphone, could pinpoint their location to the Ukrainian forces.
During the trial, Shishimarin asked the widow of the victim to forgive him.
Shishimarin’s defense attorney Victor Ovsyanikov argued that his client, a member of a Russian tank unit who was eventually captured, had been unprepared for the “violent military confrontation” and mass casualties that Russian troops encountered when they first invaded Ukraine.
“The court has found that (Vadim) Shishimarin is guilty and sentences him to life imprisonment,” judge Sergiy Agafonov said.
10:25 AM
World faces a turning point, Zelensky warns
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday told a meeting of global business leaders at Davos that the world faced a turning point and had to ratchet up sanctions against Russia as a warning to other countries considering using brute force.
“History is at a turning point… This is really the moment when it is decided whether brute force will rule the world,” Mr Zelensky said in an address to the conference.
10:19 AM
More than 6.5 million people have fled Ukraine -UN agency
More than 6.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in late February, the UN refugee agency has said.
Since Russia’s invasion on February 24, 6,538,998 refugees have left Ukraine, with the majority of them entering Poland.
10:00 AM
Watch: ‘F— the war!’ Russians defiantly chant against war in St Petersburg concert
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09:55 AM
Russia pounds eastern Ukraine as battle for Donbas deepens
Russia pounded dozens of targets in eastern Ukraine with airstrikes and artillery as ground forces attempted to encircle the Donbas city of Sievierodonetsk, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
In eastern Ukraine, the Russian air force hit four command centres, a communications point, an anti-aircraft missile system and 87 areas where troops and Ukrainian military equipment amassed as well as seven ammunition stores, the defence ministry said.
Russian artillery hit 73 command points, 578 areas where troops and Ukrainian military equipment amassed, as well as 37 artillery and mortar units in firing positions, the defence ministry said. Russia said it shot down three Ukrainian Su-25 jets.
Sea-launched long range missiles hit Ukrainian weapons at the Malin railway station in western Ukraine which were being transported to the east, the defence ministry said.
09:42 AM
Russia says it will resume talks when Ukraine is ‘constructive’
The Kremlin will be ready to return to negotiations with Ukraine “as soon as Kyiv shows a constructive position”, RIA cited Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko as saying.
Speaking on the subject of Russia exchanging prisoners from the Azovstal steelworks, RIA reported that Rudenko did not rule out that discussions are taking place.
09:40 AM
Kremlin says West triggered a global food crisis with sanctions
The Kremlin said on Monday that the West had triggered a global food crisis by imposing the severest sanctions in modern history on Russia over the war in Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said, agreed with the United Nations assessment that the world faced a food crisis that could cause famine.
“Russia has always been a rather reliable grain exporter,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “We are not the source of the problem.”
09:08 AM
Watch: Zelensky’s wife says she hadn’t seen her husband at all in two months in rare interview
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08:24 AM
Pictured: Destruction caused by ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict
08:00 AM
Ukraine rules out territorial concessions as Russia steps up attacks
Ukraine ruled out a ceasefire or any territorial concessions to Russia, and Poland’s president said any loss of Ukrainian territory would be a “huge blow” to the entire West as he warned against appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Air raid sirens blared across Ukraine on Monday morning, sounding the daily alarm ahead of anticipated attacks by Russian forces in the east and south of the country.
Russia has stepped up its pounding of the Donbas and Mykolaiv regions with air strikes and artillery fire, in what Ukraine has described as a “scorched-earth” strategy to win control of the eastern front.
“The war must end with the complete restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff, said in a Twitter post on Sunday.
07:37 AM
Watch: Russians clear mines from the ruins of Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol
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07:11 AM
More than 100m people forcibly displaced from their homes
The war in Ukraine has pushed the number of forcibly displaced people around the world above 100 million for the first time, the United Nations said on Monday.
The “alarming” figure must shake the world into ending conflicts forcing record numbers to flee their own homes, the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR said.
UNHCR said the number around the world rose towards 90 million by the end of 2021. Since Russia’s invasion on February 24, more than eight million people have been displaced within the country, while more than six million refugees have fled across the borders.
“One hundred million is a stark figure – sobering and alarming in equal measure. It’s a record that should never have been set,” said UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi.
“This must serve as a wake-up call to resolve and prevent destructive conflicts, end persecution, and address the underlying causes that force innocent people to flee their homes.”
The 100 million figure amounts to more than one per cent of the global population, while only 13 countries have a bigger population than the number of forcibly displaced people in the world.
06:39 AM
Russia says it destroyed unit of US-made weapons in Ukraine
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces destroyed a Ukrainian unit of US-produced M777 howitzers, a type of artillery weapon, RIA news agency reported on Monday.
05:51 AM
US is fully committed to Japan’s defence
American President Joe Biden assured his “good friend” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan on Monday that the US is fully committed to Japan’s defence, amid simmering tension with China and the ramifications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The cornerstone of Mr Biden’s visit, which includes meetings with the leaders of Japan, India and Australia, in the “Quad” group, will be the launch of an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a broad plan providing an economic pillar for US engagement with Asia.
“The US-Japan alliance has long been the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, and the United States remains fully committed to Japan’s defence,” Mr Biden said at the beginning of talks with Mr Kishida at the Akasaka Palace in central Tokyo.
05:48 AM
Spotlight on Russian abuses in brutal war
With a verdict due today in the war crimes trial in Kyiv, Moscow’s offensive in eastern Ukraine is only intensifying, with the city of Severodonetsk under “round-the-clock” bombardment as Russian troops attempt its encirclement.
The trial in Ukraine’s capital – seen as a public test of the Ukrainian judicial system’s independence – comes as international institutions conduct their own investigations into alleged abuses that have turned cities like Bucha and Mariupol into watchwords for destruction.
Polish President Andrzej Duda, whose country is a vital staging area for Western arms shipments and host to millions of the war’s refugees, pointed to the devastation in those cities as a reason why “business as usual” with Russia was no longer possible.
“An honest world cannot return to business as usual while forgetting the crimes, the aggression, the fundamental rights that have been trampled on,” he told Ukraine’s parliament on Sunday.
READ MORE: Ukraine must not give in to Vladimir Putin’s demands, Poland’s president says
04:34 AM
Gene-edited crops to be sped up to ease food crisis
The production of gene-edited crops is to be sped up to help guarantee British food supplies in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine.
Russian blockades are preventing the export of key goods such as wheat from the country, leading to rising food prices and shortages globally.
Amid concern over the UK’s food self-sufficiency, the Government will this week introduce a Bill that will allow farms to grow more crops by planting variants that have been edited to be more resistant to disease or need less water or fertiliser.
Read The Telegraph’s front page story here.
03:12 AM
Russians clear mines from Azovstal steel works
Russian soldiers have cleared mines and debris on the industrial grounds of the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol.
Soldiers walked through the compound and used mine detectors over roads littered with debris, while others checked under objects for the explosive devices, video footage showed.
“The task is huge, the enemy planted their own landmines, we had also planted anti-personnel mines while blocking the enemy. So we’ve got some two weeks of work ahead of us,” said a Russian soldier who gave only his nom de guerre Babai.
Russia on Friday said the last Ukrainian fighters defending Azovstal had surrendered. Ukraine has not confirmed that development, but a commander of one of the units in the factory said the troops had been ordered to stand down.
02:25 AM
Russians ‘engaging in a scorched-earth approach’
Russia appears to have made slow, grinding moves forward in the Donbas in recent days. It has intensified efforts to capture Sievierodonetsk, the main city under Ukrainian control in Luhansk province – which, together with Donetsk province, makes up the Donbas.
The Ukrainian military said Russian forces had mounted an unsuccessful attack on Oleksandrivka, a village outside Sievierodonetsk.
Sievierodonetsk came under heavy shelling, and Luhansk Governor Serhii Haidai said the Russians were “simply intentionally trying to destroy the city … engaging in a scorched-earth approach.”
Mr Haidai said Moscow was concentrating forces and weaponry there to try to win control of Luhansk, bringing in forces from Kharkiv to the northwest, Mariupol to the south, and from inside Russia.
The sole working hospital in the city has only three doctors and supplies for 10 days, he said.
Ukrainian officials have said little since the war began about the extent of their country’s casualties, but Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that 50 to 100 Ukrainian fighters were being killed – apparently each day – in the east.
01:50 AM
Fears for fate of Azovstal fighters
With Russia claiming to have taken prisoner nearly 2,500 Ukrainian fighters from Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant, concerns have grown about their fate and that of the remaining residents of the city – now in ruins with more than 20,000 feared dead.
Relatives of the fighters have pleaded for them to be given rights as prisoners of war and eventually returned to Ukraine.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Ukraine “will fight for the return” of every one of them.
Denis Pushilin, the pro-Kremlin head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, vowed that the Ukrainian fighters from the plant would face tribunals.
01:10 AM
War may end in a deal, but not any time soon
An editorial in the New York Times has sparked uproar in Kyiv amid growing fears about the resolve of elites in both the United States and Europe to see the conflict through.
The piece, attributed to the paper’s Editorial Board, argued that Russia is too strong for Ukraine to defeat decisively on the battlefield; that the realistic outcome of the war will involve territorial concessions from Ukraine; and that President Joe Biden should make this clear to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sooner rather than later – including by placing clear limits on US support for Kyiv.
Read the full story here.
Just read the shameful @nytimes editorial on ????????. One thing they don’t get: the “hard decisions” expected from Ukraine (ceding more land) mean mass terror/genocide on ceded territories. We can’t feed our people to ????????crocodile. Therefore we’ll fight, with or without NYT’s approval.
— olexander scherba???????? (@olex_scherba) May 21, 2022
Grateful to @POTUS for signing the law on additional support for ????????. The leadership of ????????, President Biden & the American people in supporting ????????’s fight against the Russian aggressor is crucial. Look forward to new, powerful defense assistance. Today it is needed more than ever.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 21, 2022
Ukraine, and only Ukraine will define when and how the war ends. We exercise our right to self-defence under article 51 of the UN Charter following a brutal armed attack. President @ZelenskyyUa has been clear. We don’t need anyone else’s land, but we won’t give up on what’s ours.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) May 21, 2022
12:50 AM
‘We strongly urge Russia to … unconditionally withdraw’
Representatives of the US, Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand have said in a joint statement that they have “grave concerns” over the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
“Reaffirming the importance of the rules-based international order that underpins an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific region, we strongly urge Russia to immediately cease its use of force and completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from Ukraine,” the nations said.
Representatives from Canada, New Zealand, Japan and Australia joined the Americans, led by US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in walking out of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on Saturday.
The walkout took place while Russian Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov was delivering remarks at the opening of the two-day meeting of the group of 21 economies.
The delegations from five countries that staged the protest returned to the meeting after Reshetnikov finished speaking, a Thai official said.
12:46 AM
‘The world is falling apart’
The United Nations has said the number of forcibly displaced people around the world has risen above 100 million for the first time – pushed up by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
UN Refugee Agency UNHCR announced the grim figure on Monday. It said the number of forcibly displaced people rose towards 90 million by the end of 2021, spurred by violence in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Nigeria, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 more than eight million people have been displaced within the country, while more than six million refugees have fled across the borders.
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said: “The international response to people fleeing war in Ukraine has been overwhelmingly positive.
“Compassion is alive and we need a similar mobilisation for all crises around the world. But ultimately, humanitarian aid is a palliative, not a cure.
“To reverse this trend, the only answer is peace and stability so that innocent people are not forced to gamble between acute danger at home or precarious flight and exile.”
Norwegian Refugee Council chief Jan Egeland said: “It has never been as bad as this.
“The world is falling apart.”
12:29 AM
Today’s top stories
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The production of gene-edited crops is to be sped up to help guarantee British food supplies in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine
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Russia is believed to have deployed “Terminator” tanks to a strategic city in eastern Ukraine, as it attempts to make a major breakthrough in its Donbas offensive
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The coast around the Black Sea city of Odesa remains braced for invasion, with air raid sirens and missile attacks. On the beaches themselves, though, the main risk of battle looks likely to be rows over sunloungers
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British cinema bosses are acting as a “moral compass” at Cannes, as the BFI steers filmmakers away from Russian cash being offered on the Riviera
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George Orwell’s “1984” was written to describe Western liberalism, not a place like Russia that still refuses to call its invasion of Ukraine “war”, a top Moscow diplomat has insisted
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An editorial in the New York Times has sparked uproar in Kyiv amid growing fears about the resolve of elites in both the United States and Europe to see the conflict through
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Ukraine must not give in to Vladimir Putin, the Polish president has said in a speech to Kyiv’s parliament, as he warned the West against appeasing Russia
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Destroyed Russian tanks and armoured vehicles have been put on display in Kyiv, as the Ukrainian capital returns to some semblance of normality following the Russian retreat from areas around the city
