Sergeant Vadim Chichimarine, 21, pleaded guilty of shooting dead a Ukrainian civilian at the end of February.
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A Russian soldier tried for “war crimes” pleaded guilty on Wednesday 18 May, of shooting dead a Ukrainian civilian, in front of a court in kyiv where the first such trial since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is being held.
Head shaved and wearing a hooded sweatshirt, Vadim Chichimarine, 21 years old, was transferred at the beginning of the afternoon to the Solomiansky district court, where he appeared locked in a glass box. After the prosecutor read the indictment, the judge asked him if he admitted the facts “in their entirety”. “Yes”he replied.
Accused of violation of the law of war and assassination, the soldier, originally from Irkutsk, in Siberia, faces life imprisonment. According to the prosecution, Sergeant Vadim Chichimarine fired a Kalashnikov at a 62-year-old man years old, who pushed his bicycle while telephoning, on February 28, in northeastern Ukraine.
After a short intervention by the defendant’s lawyer, the hearing was adjourned for an unknown reason. It will resume Thursday with the hearing of the accused, the widow of his victim and two other witnesses.