Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has said that authorities have opened 49 war crimes trials related to Russia’s invasion of the country that began in February, as the first Russian soldier to be charged begins a life sentence for murdering a civilian.

Venediktova spoke at the opening of the “Russian War Crimes House” in Davos, Switzerland, where the World Economic Forum (WEF) is being held this week.

She told attendees that invading forces have routinely engaged in “heinous crimes”, prompting thousands of war crimes investigations by Ukrainian authorities.

“We have already initiated close to 13,000 cases which are connected only to war crimes. In this category, suspicions were reported [about] 49 individuals, which we started to prosecute [for] war crimes”, - Venediktova said.