The 21-year-old baby-faced Russian tank commander is sentenced to life in prison for killing a 62-year-old civilian in the Ukraine invasion’s first war crimes trial
A baby-faced Russian tank commander was today sentenced to life in prison for the murder of an unarmed civilian in the first war crimes trial after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Vadim Shishimarin, 21, had pleaded guilty to killing 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov in the early days of the war after being ordered to shoot him.
Judge Serhiy Agafonov said Shishimarin fired multiple shots from an automatic weapon at the victim’s head as he was carrying out a “criminal order” from a senior soldier.
Shishimarin, wearing a blue and gray hooded sweatshirt, silently watched the proceedings from a reinforced glass box in the courtroom and showed no emotion as the verdict was read.
The Russian tank commander was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to war crimes and murder for killing Oleksandr, who was shot dead on February 28 in the northeastern village of Chupakhivka in the Sumy region while riding his bicycle along the road pushed.
Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old tank commander, had pleaded guilty to killing 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov in the northeastern Ukrainian village of Chupachivka on February 28 after he was ordered to shoot him
Shishimarin, wearing a blue and gray hooded sweatshirt, silently watched the proceedings from a reinforced glass box in the courtroom and showed no emotion as the verdict was read
The trial holds great symbolic importance for Ukraine, which has accused Russia of atrocities and brutality against civilians during the invasion and said it has identified more than 10,000 possible war crimes.
Russia has denied attacking civilians or being involved in war crimes.
The Kremlin did not immediately comment on the verdict. It has previously said it has no information about the process and that the lack of a diplomatic mission in Ukraine limits its ability to provide assistance.
This is breaking news, more to come…