Thursday 12 May 2022 01:23 PM Ukraine announces first war crimes trial for Russian accused of killing ... trends now
Ukraine is set to hold its first war crimes trial since Russia's barbaric invasion, for a 21-year-old service member accused of gunning down an unarmed 62-year-old from a car window.
Vadim Shishimarin faces life in prison for allegedly killing the civilian with a Kalashnikov rifle as he fled with four other soldiers in a stolen car in a village in Sumy on February 28, just days after the start of the war.
The man was pushing a bicycle by the side of the road when he was shot in the head and 'died on the spot a few dozen metres from his home', the Ukrainian prosecutor general said.
Ukraine is set to hold its first war crimes trial since Russia's barbaric invasion, for Vadim Shishimarin, 21
Iryna Venediktova (pictured in Bucha on Tuesday), the prosecutor general, is launching her first war crimes case since the invasion
Investigators have collected evidence of his involvement, finding him 'in violation of the laws and customs of war combined with premeditated murder'.
If sentenced, he faces 10 to 15 years or life in prison.
Iryna Venediktova, the prosecutor general, said: 'Shishimarin is actually physically in Ukraine. We are starting a trial not in absentia but rather directly with the person who killed a civilian, and this is a war crime.'
Ukrainian video blogger Volodymyr Zolkin appeared to interview Shishimarin in a YouTube video posted on March 19, according to the Washington Post.
In the clip, the alleged killer said his unit was told they would be taking part in military exercises in southwestern Russia 200 miles from Ukraine in January.
Buildings are reduced to rubble in Mariupol where Russia is accused of targeting civilians in the port city
