Vadim Shishimarin is a Russian soldier who has gone on trial in Ukraine for killing an unarmed civilian, marking the first time a member of the Russian military has been prosecuted for a war crime during the 11-week conflict.
Vadim Shishimarin – Wiki, Bio, Age, Russian Soldier, War Crime, Trial
He was captured member of a tank unit is accused of shooting a 62-year-old Ukrainian man in the head through an open car window in the northeastern village of Chupakhivka during the war’s first week.
Scores of journalists and cameras packed inside a small courtroom at the Solomyanskyy district court in Kyiv, where the suspect, Vadim Shyshimarin, appeared in a small glass cage wearing a blue and grey outfit.
He faces life in prison under the penalties spelt out in the section of the Ukrainian criminal code that addresses the laws and customs of war.
Ukraine’s top prosecutor investigates allegations that Russian troops violated Ukrainian and international law by killing, torturing and abusing possibly thousands of Ukrainian civilians.
Trial
In Mr Shyshimarin’s case, the judges and lawyers discussed procedural matters briefly before the judges left the courtroom and then returned to say the proceedings would continue on another day.
Defence lawyer Victor Ovsyanikov acknowledged that the case against the soldier was strong but said the court would decide what evidence to allow in Kyiv.
Mr Ovsyanikov said on Thursday that he and his client had not yet decided how he would plead.
As the inaugural war-crimes case in Ukraine, Mr Shyshimarin’s prosecution is being watched closely.
Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova’s office has said it is looking into more than 10,700 potential war crimes involving more than 600 suspects, including Russian soldiers and government officials.
Many of the alleged atrocities came to light last month after Moscow’s forces ended their bid to capture Kyiv and withdrew from around the capital, exposing mass graves and streets and yards strewn with bodies in towns such as Bucha.
Volodymyr Yavorskyy, the coordinator at the Center for Civil Liberties in Kyiv, one of Ukraine’s most prominent human rights groups, said activists would monitor the Russian soldier’s trial to ensure that his legal rights are protected.
It can be difficult, he said, to maintain the neutrality of court proceedings during wartime.
