Kurashov himself never testified. According to court reporters, his lawyer Anna Karpenko said her client “sincerely repented” and that he believed he had simply been following orders from above not to take any prisoners.

What a russian thing to say.

“well you see, it’s perfectly reasonable that he murdered a surrendered soldier, as he was just following orders!”

The “just following orders” defense still going strong 80 years later.

I’m sure it’s going to be used a lot in the coming decades, assuming the governments actively involved in horrifying human rights abuses ever see any sort of reform…