The “war crimes” in Ukraine have a first name: Vadim Chichimarine. The 21-year-old Russian soldier must appear Wednesday, May 18 in a court in kyiv. He is accused of having deliberately killed with a Kalashnikov a 62-year-old unarmed civilian who pushed his bike.
The hearing, which is a first since the outbreak of the conflict, will be a test case for the Ukrainian judicial system as international institutions conduct their own investigations into the abuses committed by Russian troops in that country.
The face of Vadim Chichimarine has already appeared on cameras around the world, Friday, May 13, duringa preliminary hearing. The accused then arrived in handcuffs, his head shaved, at the Small Solomiansky District Court in kyiv in a gray tracksuit.
He faces life imprisonment
According to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, the Russian soldier was traveling with four other soldiers after the attack on their convoy on February 28 and they stole a car near the village of Choupakhivka, in the Sumy region in the northeast of the country. The victim, who has not been identified, was riding a bicycle on the side of the road not far from his home, added the prosecution.
Vadim Chichimarine’s lawyer said his client confessed to the murder of a 62-year-old man, without specifying whether he would plead guilty or not. He faces life imprisonment if convicted of war crimes and premeditated murder.
In a video published in early May by the Ukrainian secret service (SBU), Vadim Chichimarine said he had come to fight in Ukraine to “support his mother financially”. Regarding the charges against him, he explained: “I received the order to shoot, I shot him once. He fell and we continued on our way”.