In the first war crimes trial in Ukraine since the war began, a 21-year-old Russian soldier pleaded guilty to killing an unarmed civilian.
A few days after the invasion began, Vadim Shishimarin admitted to shooting a 62-year-old man. He faces life in prison.
Handcuffed, the prisoner was led into the Kyiv courtroom by heavily armed guards. He appeared nervous and bowed his head.
The widow of the man killed sat just a few metres away from him.
She wiped away tears as the soldier entered the courtroom, then sat with her hands clasped as the prosecutor laid out his case, describing the moment Kateryna’s husband was shot in the head.
- President Akufo-Addo expresses concern about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on food security.
- Ukraine claims that Russian hackers attempted but failed to target a power company.
“Do you accept your guilt?” the judge asked. “Yes,” Shishimarin replied.
“Totally?””Yes,” he replied quietly from behind the glass of his grey metal-and-glass cage.
Prosecutors say Shishimarin was commanding a unit in a tank division when his convoy came under attack.
He and four other soldiers stole a car, and as they travelled near Chupakhivka, they encountered the 62-year-old on a bicycle, they said.
According to prosecutors, Shishimarin was ordered to kill the civilian and used a Kalashnikov assault rifle to do so.
The Kremlin said earlier it was not informed about the case.
Shishimarin’s trial was adjourned shortly after the civilian’s widow heard for the first time the Russian soldier admitted to the murder. This high profile hearing will restart on Thursday in a larger courtroom.
Kateryna, the 62 year-old’s widow, spoke to the BBC before she left the court for the day.
She was asked about how she was coping.
Kateryna said: “I feel very sorry for him. But for a crime like that – I can’t forgive him.”
“By this first trial, we are sending a clear signal that every perpetrator, every person who ordered or assisted in the commission of crimes in Ukraine shall not avoid responsibility,” Ukraine’s chief prosecutor, Iryna Venediktova, tweeted.
Venediktova previously said her office was readying war crimes cases against 41 Russian soldiers.
Moscowhad denied its troops targeted civilians.
Shishimarin’s trial was being watched closely because investigators have been collecting evidence of possible war crimes to bring before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. -BBC
