First Ukraine war crimes trial starts as soldier admits he shot civilian in head
THE trial of a Russian soldier accused of killing a Ukrainian civilian opened yesterday, marking the first war crimes case since Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour.
Scores of journalists packed inside a small courtroom in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, where the suspect appeared in a small glass cage for the start of a trial that has drawn international attention amid accusations of repeated atrocities by Russian forces.
Sergeant Vadim Shyshimarin, 21, is accused of shooting a 62-year-old Ukrainian man in the head in the north-east village of Chupakhivka.
If found guilty the sergeant could be sentenced up to life in prison.
The killing happened in the early days of the war, when Russian tanks advancing on Kyiv were unexpectedly overrun and retreated.
Sgt Shyshimarin, a member of a tank unit captured by Ukrainian forces, admitted shooting the civilian in a video posted by the Security Service of Ukraine.
“I was ordered to shoot,” he said of the killing on February 28. “I shot one [round] at him. He falls. And we kept on going.”
Sgt Shyshimarin’s video statement is “one of the first confessions of the enemy invaders”, according to the Ukrainian security service.
The trial comes as Russia’s campaign to take Ukraine’s east slowly grinds on – but its invasion has resulted in widespread repercussions beyond the battlefield.
Two-and-a-half months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent a shiver of fear through Moscow’s neighbours, Finland’s President and prime minister announced on Thursday that the Nordic country should apply right away for membership of Nato, the military defence pact founded in part to counter the Soviet Union.
“You [Russia] caused this. Look in the mirror,” said Finnish President
Sauli Niinisto.
Finland’s Parliament still has to weigh in but the announcement means it is all but certain to apply – and gain admission. The process could take months to complete.
Sweden, likewise, is considering putting itself under Nato’s protection.
That would represent a major change in Europe’s security landscape; Sweden
has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years, while Finland adopted neutrality after its defeat by the Soviets in the Second World War.
The Kremlin warned it may take retaliatory “military-technical” steps.
Public opinion in both nations shifted dramatically in favour of Nato membership after the invasion, which stirred fears in countries along Russia’s flank that they could be next.
Such an expansion of the alliance would leave Russia surrounded by Nato countries in the Baltic Sea and the Arctic and would amount to a stinging setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He had hoped to divide and roll
back Nato in Europe but is instead seeing the opposite happen.
Nato Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg has said the alliance would welcome Finland and Sweden.
Nato’s funnelling of weapons and other military support to Ukraine has been critical to Kyiv’s surprising ability to stymie the invasion, and the Kremlin warned anew that the aid could lead to direct conflict between Nato and Russia.
On the ground, the UK’S Ministry of Defence said yesterday that Russia has not made any significant advances despite concentrating forces in the Donbas after withdrawing troops from other areas.
British military officials said Russia lost “significant” elements of at least one battalion tactical group – about 1,000 troops – and equipment that were used to quickly deploy a makeshift floating bridge while trying to cross the Siverskyi Donets River west of Severodonetsk.
“Conducting river crossings in a contested environment is a highly risky manoeuvre and speaks to the pressure the Russian commanders are under to make progress in their operations in eastern Ukraine,” the MOD said in its daily intelligence update.
As the fighting and Russian strikes persisted, teachers were trying to restore some sense of normalcy after the war shut Ukraine’s schools and devastated the lives of millions of children.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, lessons are being given in a subway station used as a bomb shelter that has become home for many families.
At least two civilians were killed on the outskirts of the city on Thursday, authorities said. The attacks also damaged a building housing a humanitarian aid unit, municipal offices and hospital facilities,.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military chief for the eastern Luhansk region said yesterday that Russian forces opened fire 31 times on residential areas the day before, destroying dozens of homes, notably in Hirske and Popasnianska villages, and a bridge in Rubizhne.
In other developments, Ukrainian officials said their forces took out another Russian ship in the Black Sea, though there was no confirmation from Russia and no casualties were reported.
I was ordered to shoot. I shot one [round] at him. He falls. And we kept on going