Soldier faces first war crimes trial for ‘killing civilian’
UKRAINE opened its first war crimes trial of the conflict yesterday, putting a Russian soldier in the dock for allegedly shooting a 62-year-old civilian in the head as he rode his bicycle.
Sgt Vadim Shyshimarin appeared at court in Kyiv shortly before the judge adjourned the trial until Wednesday. He stood silently with his head bowed as the judge read out his personal details.
Iryna Venediktova, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, said Mr Shyshimarin, 21, had been ordered to kill the unarmed civilian “so that he would not tell Ukrainian defenders about them”. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Kyiv said it has identified more than 10,000 possible war crimes since Russia invaded on Feb 24. Russia has denied involvement in war crimes and accused Kyiv of staging them to smear its forces.