▲ Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin faces first trial for war crimes in Ukraine. 2022.05.14 Archyde.com Yonhap News
About 70 days after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, a Russian soldier stood before a Ukrainian court as a war criminal suspect. The 21-year-old suspect admitted to killing a civilian in court.
According to the Associated Press on the 13th (local time), the Kiiu District Court in the capital of Ukraine held the first trial against Sgt Vadim Shisimarin, 21, of the Russian Army’s Kantemirovskaya Tank Division, who was indicted for killing a civilian. proceeded
Sgt. Shishimarin is accused of shooting and killing a civilian in the village of Chupahyuka in the northeastern Ukrainian state of Sumi Province, which was in the fighting area on February 28, at the beginning of the war.
He allegedly shot and killed a 62-year-old civilian man, who was on a bicycle and talking on a cell phone, with an AK-47. The crime was committed so that the location of the Russian army would not be discovered by the Ukrainian army.
▲ War crime suspect Vadim Shishimarin
Shishimarin, who was captured at the scene, pleaded guilty to killing a civilian.
According to a video released by the Ukrainian security service, Shishimarin was “ordered to fire. “He fired one shot and he fell, and we continued on,” he said.
This is the first time that a Russian military has been brought before a Ukrainian court as a war criminal suspect. The Sheriff’s Office described Shishimarin’s testimony as “one of the first confessions of the aggressor.”
“The crime was committed by an unarmed civilian to prevent the Ukrainian military from revealing the location of the Russian military,” the Ukrainian prosecutor said.
Reporter Minji Kim