Russia solider, 21, on trial for war crimes in Ukraine

A younger Russian soldier has gone on trial in Ukraine for battle crimes, after he was accused of murdering a Ukrainian civilian.

The defendant who appeared within the court docket in Kyiv on Friday is Vadim Shysimarin, a 21-year-old sergeant in a Russian tank division. 

He’s accused of murdering an unarmed 62-year-old civilian, which is a battle crime underneath worldwide regulation. 

The case marks a watershed second as it’s the first time a Russian soldier has been accused of battle crimes because the invasion started in February. 

Shysimarin, who was introduced earlier than the court docket in a preliminary listening to, faces life imprisonment underneath fees of battle crimes and premeditated homicide, if discovered responsible. 

It’s alleged that the Russian sergeant, who had been preventing with the Kantemirovskaya tank division in north-east Ukraine, killed the civilian on 28 February within the village of Chupakhivka. 

He’s accused of taking pictures the unarmed man within the head from a automobile window, after being ordered “to kill the civilian so he wouldn’t report them to Ukrainian defenders,” say the prosecutors. 

The aged man was using a bicycle and speaking on the cellphone when he was shot, solely “dozens of metres” from his home.

He was shot with an AK-47 rifle. 

Talking on the court docket on Friday, Shishimarin confirmed his title, tackle, marital standing and that he was a Russian serviceman. 

He declined a trial by jury. 

Shishimarin will inform the court docket at a later date whether or not or not he denies the cost, his lawyer Viktor Ovsyannikov mentioned.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s workplace mentioned: “Investigators of the SBU [Ukrainian secret services] have collected sufficient proof of his involvement in violation of the legal guidelines and customs of battle mixed with premeditated homicide.

“For these actions, he faces 10 to fifteen years in jail or life in jail,” they added. 

The decide mentioned the court docket will reconvene on 18 Could, after the case was filed at a prison court docket earlier within the week. 

“He’s right here, we’ve got him,” mentioned Ukraine’s prosecutor common, Iryna Venediktova, referring to Shishimarin, in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Russia mentioned it had no details about the sergeant’s trial and the nation has repeatedly denied its forces have dedicated battle crimes in Ukraine.

Two different circumstances are set to be heard within the Kyiv court docket over the approaching days. 

Considered one of these is the trial – in absentia – of Mikhail Romanov, a Russian soldier accused of rape and homicide. 

He allegedly broke right into a home in March in a village close to Kyiv, murdering a person after which repeatedly raping his spouse whereas “threatening her and her underage baby with violence and weapons.”

The variety of alleged Russian battle crimes registered by Ukraine’s common prosecutor surpassed 11,000, with Unicef reporting that not less than 100 youngsters have been killed within the battle in April alone.