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A Ukrainian court sentenced a Russian soldier to life in prison on Monday for killing an unarmed civilian in the first war crimes trial arising from Russia's February 24 invasion. Follow FRANCE 24's liveblog for all the latest developments. 

A Ukrainian court has sentenced a Russian soldier to life in prison for killing an unarmed civilian in the first war crimes trial arising from Russia's invasion on Ukraine.

Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old tank commander, had pleaded guilty to killing 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov in the northeastern Ukrainian village of Chupakhivka on February 28 after being ordered to shoot him.

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.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for “maximum” sanctions against Russia during a virtual speech on the first day of the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland.

He said sanctions need to go further to stop Russia’s aggression, including an oil embargo, blocking all of its banks and cutting off trade with Russia completely.

“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," Zelensky said.

More than 6.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion in late February, the UN refugee agency said.

Since Russia's invasion on February 24, 6,538,998 refugees have left Ukraine, with the majority of them entering Poland.