The 21-year-old Russian soldier is facing life imprisonment, who killed a 62-year-old civilian in the village of Chupakhivka, northeastern Ukraine and is now on trial in Ukrainian courts. The 21-year-old is accused in the first war crimes trial since the Russian invasion, which began on 24 February.
Vadim Sisimarin, confessed to fatally shooting the 62-year-old, who died instantly near his home in late February. If the three-judge panel of judges finds him guilty of violating Ukraine's martial laws, they may impose a life sentence.
The soldier told the trial court in Kiev that after his regiment's tanks were destroyed by Ukrainian fire on February 28, an officer ordered five men to get into a civilian car, including himself. As the vehicle was in motion, they saw
a man talking on his mobile phone. The officer claimed that the man would report his location to the Ukrainian forces and ordered Sisimarin to shoot him, which he did. The soldier claimed that he did not see if he actually hit the man. "It happened quickly. I just saw him," he said."
He admitted that he was not obligated
However, Cissimarrin acknowledged that he was not obligated to carry out the order, as none of those in the car were his commanding officers. "Because there was no commander and they were in charge, I listened to him. He started shouting."
They then headed over a bridge where they were ambushed by people who were shooting at them from the nearby woods, without themselves realising who their attackers were. The driver of the car was killed and the car crashed into a ditch. The other four soldiers jumped from the car and ran across the bridge into the nearby woods."
[/P]"I understand you can't forgive me."
The four soldiers walked all night until they came to an old farmhouse, Cisimarin said. The officer ordered them to stay until morning. A guard at the farm came out and told them he would not disturb them. However, the group decided to leave. They came back through a swamp and surrendered to a civilian. "I admit my guilt. I understand that you cannot forgive me. But I apologize," he told the court.
The victim's wife also gave a statement. Katerina Selipova, 61, told judges she heard gunshots on February 28. She ran out the door and saw a grey car drive by and Sisimarin holding a gun in the back seat. Frightened, she closed the door and waited for about five minutes. She then got out and saw her husband lying on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the head. In fact, she said, she could see his brain.
The victim, Selipova said, was a civilian who never carried guns. She hopes Cisimarin will spend the rest of his life in prison. However, she would accept if he was included in a prisoner exchange.
Source: Proto Thema
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
