‘Devil’s advocate’? Russian soldier’s Ukrainian lawyer defends role on eve of verdict
by Lorenzo Tondo in Kyiv from World news | The Guardian on (#5ZGWJ)
Viktor Ovsyannikov speaks out on his defence of a 21-year-old tank commander who shot and killed an unarmed civilian
Defending a Russian soldier accused of a war crime in Ukraine is no easy task, which is why some people have described Viktor Ovsyannikov as the devil's advocate".
But the 43-year-old Ukrainian is unrepentant. First of all, I am defending a person, not a crime," Ovsyannikov said on Sunday on the eve of the verdict in the trial of 21-year-old tank commander Vadim Shysimarin, who has already pleaded guilty to killing an an unarmed civilian in late February. I'm trying to prove that my defendant's actions were misqualified. It's up to judges to decide. I just do my job."
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