Ukraine: First war crime trial since Russian invasion

A 21-year-old Russian soldier will be tried for war crimes in Ukraine in the first trial of its kind in the country where the Russian army invaded on February 24, Kyiv Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova announced on Wednesday.

Vadim Sisimarin is accused of shooting with a Kalashnikov assault rifle from inside a car in which he was traveling and killing a 62-year-old unarmed civilian, the prosecutor’s office explained in the press release they published.

The Russian soldier, along with four of his colleagues, was moving after their convoy was attacked on February 28 and they stole a car near the village of Tsupahifka, the press release continues, explaining that the unnamed victim was riding a bicycle on the edge of near his house.

One of the soldiers “ordered the accused to kill the civilian so as not to report” the theft of the car, according to the announcement. The man “ended up on the spot, just a few tens of meters from his house”.

Vadim Sisimarin, who is in custody, risks life imprisonment if convicted of premeditated murder.

The date of his trial is not specified in the announcement.

The prosecutor’s office released a photo of the accused, but did not specify the circumstances under which he was arrested, nor what happened to the other soldiers who were present when the killing of the civilian was allegedly committed.

The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office says it has recorded more than 10,700 war crimes, accusing 622 Russian soldiers.

Russia has been repeatedly accused by Kyiv and Washington of committing war crimes in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, which has turned millions of internally displaced and refugee civilians into, in many cases, tortured, sexually abused and abused. discrimination.

Britain and the Netherlands have sent war crimes investigators to assist in the Ukrainian and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) investigations, particularly in Bhutan, a suburb of Kiev.

SOURCE: AMPE

Source: Capital

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