Ukraine has commenced bringing to trial captured Russian soldiers for crimes committed by them in the country at the start of Russia’s invasion at the end of February, according to Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Iryna Venediktova.
The first case relates to Vadim Shyshymarin, of the 4th Guards (Kantemir) Division of Moscow Region, who is charged with killing a civilian in Sumy Region on Feb. 28, 2022.
Venediktova says that the 21-year-old sergeant murdered an unarmed civilian in the town of Chupakhivka, Sumy Region, when the man was on his way home holding a bike.
“After the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed sergeant Shyshymarin’s convoy he, together with four other servicemen, fled the scene, fired at a car, and hijacked it. They then drove into a village in the vehicle with its tires punctured by themselves,” Venediktova writes in her Facebook post.
“On their way, they saw a man who was on his phone while walking home. One of the soldiers ordered the sergeant to kill the civilian so that he would not report them to Ukrainian troops. Using a Kalashnikov, he shot the 62-year-old man in the head from an open window. The man died just tens of meters away from his own house.”
The scale of atrocities committed by the Russian army in the country is still to be assessed, as cases of rape, murder, torture, and mass burials mount around the country. Many world leaders have already visited the towns of Bucha, Irpin, and Borodyanka in Kyiv Region, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and top EU officials, denouncing the crimes and destruction carried out by Russian occupiers.
Venediktova noted that Shyshymarin is now awaiting trial, with prosecutors and the Security Service of Ukraine in possession of strong evidence of crimes.
Indicted for war crimes coupled with premeditated murder, he now faces the prospect of a potential life sentence.
Shyshymarin is the first Russian soldier to face justice in Ukraine following Russia’s launching of an all-out war on Ukraine on Feb. 24.
