Shishimarin’s trial opened on Friday, when he made a brief court appearance while lawyers and judges discussed procedural matters. Ukrainian authorities posted a few details on social media last week from their investigation in his case.

Shishimarin was among a group of Russian troops that fled Ukrainian forces on February 28, according to Venediktova’s Facebook account. The Russians allegedly fired at a private car and seized the vehicle, then drove to Chupakhivka, a village about 320 kilometres east of Kyiv.

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On the way, the prosecutor-general alleged, the Russian soldiers saw a man walking on the pavement and talking on his phone. Shyshimarin was ordered to kill the man so he wouldn’t be able to report them to Ukrainian military authorities. Venediktova did not identify who gave the order.

Shyshimarin fired his Kalashnikov rifle through the open window and hit the victim in the head, Venediktova wrote.

“The man died on the spot just a few dozen metres from his house,” she said.

The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, posted a short video on May 4 of Shyshimarin speaking in front of camera and briefly describing how he shot the man. The SBU described the video as “one of the first confessions of the enemy invaders”.

“I was ordered to shoot,” Shyshimarin said. “I shot one (round) at him. He falls. And we kept on going.”

Russia is believed to be preparing war crime trials for Ukrainian soldiers.

AP