KYIV (Reuters) – A 21-year-old Russian soldier informed a court docket on Friday he had not wished to kill an unarmed civilian and that he sincerely repented, as he delivered his closing phrases on the first war crimes trial arising from Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.
Vadim Shishimarin, a tank commander, has pleaded responsible to killing Oleksandr Shelipov, a 62-year-old civilian, in the northeast Ukrainian village of Chupakhivka on Feb. 28.
“I sincerely repent. I used to be nervous on the time, I did not want to kill… that is the way it occurred,” Shishimarin mentioned.
Shishimarin is accused of firing a number of photographs with an assault rifle at a civilian’s head from a automobile after being ordered to accomplish that.
Defence lawyer Viktor Ovsiannikov informed the court docket that Shishimarin had solely fired the rounds after twice refusing to perform the order to shoot and that just one out of three-to-four rounds hit the goal.
He mentioned that Shishimarin had fired the rounds out of concern for his personal security and questioned whether or not the defendant had meant to kill.
“He was sitting on the window of a automobile… the automobile was transferring at excessive velocity with a punctured tyre,” Ovsiannikov mentioned.
“I conclude that Shishimarin fired aimless photographs and did not intend to kill the civilian, and that he carried out the order not with the purpose of killing the individual, however formally, with the hope that (the rounds) would not hit,” he mentioned.
He mentioned: “I personally suppose that it ought to not be this younger man in the dock, however the senior management of the opposite nation that I feel is responsible of unleashing this war.”
State prosecutor Andriy Synyuk mentioned the arguments did not change the essence of the case.
“The court docket will analyse all of the proof and announce its resolution. The defence’s arguments in no approach refute what we’ve got given and do not refute … the guilt of Shishimarin himself,” the prosecutor mentioned.
The decide could hand down a verdict on Monday when the court docket subsequent convenes. The state prosecutor has requested the court docket to sentence Shishimarin to life in jail.
Ukraine has accused Russia of atrocities and brutality towards civilians in the course of the invasion and mentioned it has recognized greater than 10,000 attainable war crimes. Russia has denied concentrating on civilians or involvement in war crimes.
The Kremlin has mentioned it has no details about the trial and that the absence of a diplomatic mission in Ukraine limits its capability to present help.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
