Vadim Shyshimarin, a Russian soldier who fought in Ukraine, pleaded guilty to charges of killing a Ukrainian civilian. This was the first war crimes trial held in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February this year.

The trial, which was held in Kyiv on Wednesday, could mean long-term punishment for the 21-year-old Russian soldier, Associated Press reported.

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Sgt. Vadim Shyshimarin could get life in prison if convicted of shooting a Ukrainian man in the head through an open car window in a village in the northeastern Sumy region on February 28, four days into the invasion.

Shishimarin, who wore a blue and gray hoodie to the trial on Wednesday, stood inside a defendant box surrounded by glass in the court. The prosecutor then read out the charges against Shishimarin, who then pleaded guilty.

Multiple countries have called for similar war crimes trials but on a more global scale. Western countries suggested the involvement of the International Criminal Court. A day before the trial in Kyiv, the ICC reportedly sent a 42-member war crime investigating team to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has previously said her office was readying war crimes cases against 41 Russian soldiers for offenses including bombing civilian infrastructure, killing civilians, rape and looting.

It was not immediately clear how many of the suspects are in Ukrainian hands and how many could be tried in absentia.

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Karim Khan, the lead ICC investigator in Ukraine, said that the team will “significantly enhance the impact of our forensic and investigative actions on the ground”, media reports suggest.

Khan added, “It will allow us to collect more testimonial accounts, support the identification of relevant forensic and digital materials and ensure that information and evidence is collected in a manner that strengthens its admissibility in future proceedings before the ICC.”