Ukraine War: Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin pleads for forgiveness in the face of widower shot dead on his bicycle | World News
A 21-year-old Russian soldier has begged a woman to forgive him for shooting her husband while he was riding a bicycle.
Sergeant Vadim Shishimarin admitted to killing Oleksandr Shelipov, a civilian, when Russian soldiers drove into the village of Chupakhivka four days after the invasion.
He pleaded guilty to the February 28 murder as proceedings began Wednesday at a Kyiv district court.
This is the first war crimes trial in the Ukraine war.
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On Thursday, a Ukrainian prosecutor asked a court to sentence him to life in prison for the murder of a 62-year-old man.
Shishimarin cuts a shabby figure in court, wears a tracksuit and shaves his head.
Addressing Kateryna, Mr. Shelipov’s widow, the soldier said: “I accept my responsibility … I beg you to forgive me.”
The Kremlin claims it has no information about the test and that the absence of a diplomatic mission in Ukraine means it cannot help.
Kateryna Shelipova said she would not object if he was released in a prisoner swap
Giving evidence, Ms. Shelipova said she heard distant gunfire from their yard on the day of the murder.
“I ran to my husband, he was dead. Got shot in the head. I screamed, I yelled a lot,” she said, her voice shaking.
Shelipova testified in court that her husband was unarmed and wore civilian clothing.
She said they already have a 27-year-old son and two grandchildren.
‘Shot in the head while riding a bike and on the phone’
Ukrainian prosecutors say that Shishimarin and four other service members stole a personal car to escape after their group was targeted by Ukrainian forces.
When they reached Chupakhivka, about 200 miles east of Kyiv, they found Shelipov cycling and talking on the phone.
Prosecutors said Shishimarin was ordered to kill him by another soldier to prevent him from reporting their presence.
He is said to have fired multiple rounds through the open window of his car into Mr Shelipov’s head.
He died a few meters from the house.
Shishimarin said he fired three or four bullets at his victim
When asked if he was obligated to obey an order that would be considered a war crime, Shishimarin replied “no”.
He told the court: “I fired a short salvo, three or four rounds.”
The soldier said he was from Irkutsk Oblast (a region in Siberia) and was the eldest of five children.
Ms Shelipova said she would not object if he was released to Russia as part of a prisoner swap to get “our boys” out of the besieged city of Mariupol.
The trial comes as many Ukrainians hope Russia will hand over the captured soldiers as part of an exchange.
Some senior lawmakers in Russia have called for the fighters of the Azov regiment, part of Mariupol’s last headquarters at the Azov steel plant, to be brought to trial.
Shishimarin’s case is said to be one of thousands of war crimes
The murder of Oleksandr Shelipov marks what Ukraine and much of the Western world see as the tip of the iceberg.
Ukraine says it has identified more than 10,000 possible war crimes.
Russia continues to deny targeting civilians or having any connection to war crimes.
