The Ukrainian court begins this Wednesday (18), the first trial of a Russian military since the invasion of the country on February 24. Defendant Vadim Shishimarin, 21, is charged with war crimes and willful manslaughter after shooting a 62-year-old unarmed man riding a bicycle in northeastern Ukraine. The young Russian soldier appeared before a judge at the Solomiansky District Court in Kiev.
A Ukrainian civilian was mortally wounded at the start of the Russian offensive on February 28. According to the indictment, Vadim Shishimarin commanded a unit of the tank division when his convoy was attacked. He left the tank with four other soldiers and stole a car. The fleeing group found the 62-year-old man on a bicycle while walking near the village of Shupakhivka in the Sumi district.
“One of the armies ordered the suspect to kill the civilian so he wouldn’t report them,” said Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office. Shishimarin obeyed. From the window of the car, Kalashnikov shot at the victim with a machine gun.
“The man died at the scene, a few dozen meters from his home,” the prosecutor’s office added in a statement. A soldier born in Irkutsk, Siberia, accused of war crimes and willful murder, could face a life sentence.
“He understands the allegations against him,” his lawyer, Viktor Ovsiannikov, said without explaining his defense strategy. According to Ukrainian officials, the Russian sergeant cooperates with investigators and accepts the facts.
This first case is expected to be followed quickly by others and is considered a test for the Ukrainian judicial system, as international institutions conduct their own investigations into violations committed by Russian troops in Ukraine.
“Clear Signal”
Ukrainian authorities announced that the Russian soldier was arrested in early May, without giving details of the case. At the same time, they released a video in which Shishimarin says he came to fight in Ukraine to “support his mother financially.” Regarding the charges brought against him, he said: “I was ordered to shoot and I fired once.” “He fell and we continued on our way,” the soldier said.
According to the defense attorney, the case is difficult. We have never had such charges in Ukraine, we have no precedent, we have no verdict,” he said. “But we will go there,” added Ovsiannikov, assuring that the defendants did not see “any violation of rights” by the authorities.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venicetova underlined the importance of the case for her country in a series of messages on Twitter.
“We opened more than 11,000 war crimes investigations and arrested 40 suspects,” he said. “With this first trial, we are sending a clear signal that no executioner, anyone who orders or assists in committing crimes in Ukraine will escape justice.”
In a testament to Ukraine’s determination not to waste time, two Russian soldiers will be tried on Thursday for launching rockets at civilian infrastructure in the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, in the northeastern region.
With information from AFP
source: Noticias
