A 21-year-old Russian soldier was sentenced to life in prison by a Ukrainian court on Monday for killing an unarmed Ukrainian civilian, sealing the first guilty conviction for war crimes since Moscow’s invasion three months ago.
Vadim Shishimarin had pleaded guilty to shooting a Ukrainian civilian in the head in a village in the northeastern Sumy region in the early days of the war.
The sentencing came as the three-month-old war helped push the number of people displaced worldwide to the highest level on record level, according to the United Nations.
Who is Vadim Shishimarin?
Shishimarin from Irkutsk in Siberia has confessed to gunning down the 62-year-old man near the central village of Chupakhivka to prevent him reporting a carjacking by fleeing Russian troops.
“By this first trial, we are sending a clear signal that every perpetrator, every person who ordered or assisted in the commission of crimes in Ukraine shall not avoid responsibility,” Ukrainian prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova tweeted.
Shishimarin’s trial opened on May 13 when he made a brief court appearance while lawyers and judges discussed procedural matters.
What happened on February 28?
On February 28, Shishimarin and a group of Russian troops fled Ukrainian forces, according to Venediktova’s Facebook account.
The Russians allegedly fired at a private car and seized the vehicle, then drove to Chupakhivka, a village about 200 miles east of Kyiv.
On the way, the prosecutor-general alleged, the Russian soldiers saw a man walking on the sidewalk and talking on his phone.
Shyshimarin was ordered to kill the man so he wouldn’t be able to report them to Ukrainian military authorities.
