First Russian soldier taken to court in Ukraine for killing civilian

Vadim Shishimarin, 21, becomes the first Russian soldier to be taken to court in Ukraine for killing a civilian, says Iryna Venediktova, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General.

Shishimarin, she says, was commander of a tank crew based in Moscow. He killed an unarmed civilian in Chupakhivka, Sumy region, on 28 February.

On that day, says Venediktova, Shishmarin, alongside his fellow soldiers, was trying to get away from the Ukrainian army, driving a stolen car. The prosecutor’s theory is that upon entering Chupakhivka, Shishimarin shot a man who happened to be on the way so that he would not report them to the Ukrainian army.

“He shot a 62-year old man several times through the car window with his AK. The man died at the scene a few feet away from his home,” says Venediktova.

The Ukrainian police have managed to detain Shishmarin, he is currently under arrest. He is accused of violating warfare laws and customs, as well as felonious murder, and is facing a minimum of 10 years in prison, up to life sentence.

Anton Herashchenko, an official advisor at the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, published a video with Shishmarin earlier. In the video, Shishmarin says that he ‘is treated fine’ and that he surrendered himself willingly.