KYIV -- A Russian soldier on trial for committing a war crime in Ukraine has told the court in his final statement that he didn’t want to kill an unarmed civilian as his unit moved through a small village in the north of the country.
Sergeant Vadim Shishimarin is accused of firing an assault rifle from a car at 62-year-old Ukrainian civilian Oleksandr Shelypov after being ordered to do so. He is the first Russian soldier to stand trial on accusations of committing a war crime in Ukraine.
The 21-year-old Russian has already pleaded guilty to the shooting death of Shelypov, who was killed while riding a bicycle in the village of Chupakhivka in the northeastern region of Sumy.
"I sincerely repent. I was nervous at the time. I did not want to kill.... It's just how it happened," Shishimarin told the Solomyanka district court in Kyiv on May 20.
Prosecutors have asked the court to sentence Shishimarin to life in prison. The judge is expected to hand down the 21-year-old tank commander’s punishment on May 23.
Viktor Ovsyannikov, Shishimarin’s lawyer, said in his closing argument that his client feared for his life after twice refusing to follow an order to shoot Shelypov.
"I personally think that it should not be this young man in the dock, but the senior leadership of the other country that I think is guilty of unleashing this war," Ovsyannikov said.
During the trial, the victim’s widow, Kateryna Shelypova, said she wants life in prison for the defendant but would agree to an exchange for Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia troops.
Shishimarin, who comes from the Siberian region of Irkutsk, told the court that he understands it is impossible for Shelypova to forgive him, even though he was sorry.
The killing occurred just days after Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Iryna Venediktova last month identified 10 soldiers of the 64th Mechanized Infantry Brigade of the Russian armed forces, saying that they are suspected of "cruelty toward civilians and other war crimes," adding that Ukrainian investigators are continuing to gather evidence and that those named were just the first.
She also said at the time that investigations were under way to find out if the 10 Russians took part in the killing of civilians in Bucha.
The retreat of Russian forces from Bucha and other towns near Kyiv revealed harrowing evidence of brutal killings, torture, mass graves, and the indiscriminate targeting of civilians in the fighting.
On May 12, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) overwhelmingly approved a resolution to set up an investigation into allegations of abuses by Russian troops in areas of Ukraine they temporarily controlled.
The UNHRC's resolution cited apparent cases of torture, shootings, and sexual violence, along with other atrocities documented by a UN team on the ground.
