The first sentence for a Russian soldier who killed a civilian Ukrainian was life imprisonment. Russian troops are trying to storm the city of Liman in the Donetsk region, and in the occupied Kherson region, Russia has introduced the ruble into circulation. Meanwhile, an employee of the Russian diplomatic mission to the UN resigned in protest against the war in Ukraine.

The main events of the 89th day of the war in Ukraine are in our review.

The Kyiv court gave a life sentence to the Russian military Vadim Shishimarin, who pleaded guilty to the murder of Alexander Shelipov, a 62-year-old resident of the village of Chupakhovka, Sumy region.

Shishimarin, a 21-year-old sergeant in the Russian armed forces, served as a squad leader in the 4th Panzer Kantemirovskaya Division.

According to the prosecution, with which the military agreed, the events on the day of the murder developed as follows: not far from the village of Grinchenkove, the Ukrainian military smashed the armored convoy in which Shishimarin was, after which he and four other Russian military seized the car of one of the civilians and drove it to the side borders.

Having driven into the village of Chupakhovka, they saw Shelipov walking along the road, talking on the phone and driving a bicycle nearby. One of the soldiers in the car with Shishimarin ordered him to shoot the man, which Shishimarin did. At the trial, he said that he “shot to be left behind.”

The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on the situation with Shishimarin. The Kremlin cites a lack of information.

You can read more about the Shishimarin verdict here:

Ukrainian media at about 4 pm Moscow time reported that the Russian army began to storm the city of Liman in the Donetsk region – it is located near Slavyansk and Severodonetsk (the administrative center of the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Luhansk region).

Information appears on social networks that battles are taking place in the northern part of the city, and videos about these events. The Russian Ministry of Defense said in the morning that aircraft had carried out bombing raids in the area of the city, destroying an ammunition depot.

Pro-Russian telegram channels also write about the assault, publishing, among other things, videos of the battles , but neither Ukraine nor Russia officially announced the assault on Liman today.

Meanwhile, journalist Neil Hauer posted a video on his Twitter, in which, according to him, Russian rocket artillery strikes on Ukrainian positions in the Liman region were filmed.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said today that 87 people were killed under the rubble in the village of Desna in the Chernihiv region, which was shelled by Russian missiles. In the settlement, which was struck on May 17, there is a training center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev has resigned over the Russian invasion of Ukraine by issuing a letter sharply critical of the foreign and domestic policies of the Russian authorities.

Bondarev published a statement in which he explains his decision on his Linkedin page. His letter to colleagues was also published on Twitter by human rights activist and executive director of UN Watch Hillel Neuer.

“I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but I have never been as ashamed of my country as on February 24 of this year,” Bondarev wrote.

“The aggressive war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine, and in fact against the entire Western world, is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people, but probably the most serious crime against the people of Russia,” the diplomat writes. “The bold letter Z crossed out all hopes and prospects to create in our country a prosperous and free society.”

The head of the occupational Russian administration of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said that from today the rules of the dual-currency zone begin to operate there – the ruble and the hryvnia will be used for settlements in stores at the same time.

“Today, a decree will be issued that formalizes the introduction of dual-currency circulation in the Kherson region. This means that all traders first have the right, and then will be required to set price tags in two currencies: the hryvnia and the Russian ruble,” Saldo said.

The rate will be set at the level of 2 rubles for 1 hryvnia, the head of the occupation administration said in a telegram channel. This roughly corresponds to the exchange rate of the ruble against the hryvnia, which was set by the Central Bank of Russia.

The balance also announced that the first branch of one of the Russian banks will open in Kherson in the near future, which will start accepting applications for opening accounts.

Earlier, Kryrill Stremousov, one of the activists supporting the occupation authorities, spoke about the transition of the region to a dual-currency settlement. The head of the annexed Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said that the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions will be “together with Crimea within the borders of one state.” And Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said that Kherson would take “a worthy place in the Russian family.”

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