“The meeting is open”the judge said shortly after arriving in the courtroom by Vadim Chichimarine. Wednesday, May 18, the first trial of a Russian soldier for war crimes opened in kyiv, almost three months after the start of the Russian offensive on Ukrainian territory. This young 21-year-old soldier is accused of having killed a sexagenarian on February 28, four days after the start of the conflict, in the north-east of the country.
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On Thursday, a second war crime trial opened in Poltava, this time involving two Russian soldiers, Oleksandr Ivanov and Oleksandr Bobykin, both accused of firing rockets at civilian infrastructure near Kharkiv.
In three months, Ukraine opened more than 12,000 war crimes investigations, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office. The Kremlin, for its part, refutes these accusations, however documented. Franceinfo returns to the crimes of which the three soldiers are accused at the heart of these first trials.
The shaved head, Vadim Chichimarine appeared on Wednesday at the Solomiansky district court. The soldier, originally from Irkutsk in Siberia, is on trial for violation of the law of war and murder. He quickly pleaded guilty after the indictment was read.
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February 28, Vadim Chichimarine was in the Sumy area with a column of Russian armor. After an attack by Ukrainian forces, he flies a car with four soldiers. “We wanted to go back to where our army was positioned, in Russia”he defended during his trial. “As we were driving we saw a man talking on the phone.” The latter pushes his bicycle, near the village of Choupakhivka.
According to the story of the young Russian soldier, a soldier in the car then asks him to shoot this civilian, so as not to denounce their presence. Vadim Chichimarine claims to have refused, until another soldier insists: “He told me in a firm tone to shoot, that if I didn’t we would be in danger.” Vadim Chichimarine admitted that he was not obliged to obey him, this soldier not being his superior. But the soldier still kills the Ukrainian with a bullet, fired with a Kalashnikov from the window of the car, according to the services of the general prosecutor.
“The man died instantly, a few dozen meters from his home”.
Attorney General’s Officeat the trial of Vadim Chichimarine
“He fell and we continued on our way”, described the accused in a video released by the Ukrainian authorities. The victim’s wife Oleksandr Chelipov, witnessed the scene. “I had gone to draw water when I heard gunshots. I opened the gate, I saw the car (…) and this young man”, she reported on the stand. Coming out of her house, she saw her husband’s body, his head bleeding. “I started screaming very loudly.”
Thursday, the accused exchanged at the bar with the one who witnessed his act. “Do you have remorse for the crime you committed?” threw Katerina Chelipova at him. “I know you won’t be able to forgive me, but I still ask for your forgiveness”then launched the soldier.
“But why did you come here? To free us from what? What did my husband do to you?”
Katerina Chelipova, widow of the victimat the trial of Vadim Chichimarine
For his lawyer, Vadim Chichimarine “is not guilty of the crime with which he is charged”, not having wished to obey the order to shoot at the Ukrainian civilian. The prosecution nevertheless requested life imprisonment. “He was carrying out a criminal order and was well aware of it”advanced one of the prosecutors. “I regret what I did. (…) I did not want to kill”, blew the 21-year-old soldier. The verdict will be given on Monday.
In line with this hearing, a second trial targeting two other Russian soldiers opened Thursday in Ukraine. According to the prosecution, Oleksandr Ivanov and Oleksandr Bobykin committed a crime of violation of the laws and customs of war, as reported by Ukrainian state media Suspilne (in Ukrainian). They are accused of firing Grad missiles at civilian infrastructure near Kharkiv, says Sky News reporter (in English) who followed this trial. In Russian, “grad” means “hail”, because this system allows 40 missiles to be fired in a handful of seconds, recalls Release.
The European edition of the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta (in English) cites the prosecution, which claims that the brigade of the two soldiers arrived in the border region of Belgorod (Russia) on February 22, aware of the imminent invasion of Ukraine. According to the prosecution, the shots hit a residential area in Kozacha Lopan, as well as an educational center in another city in the Kharkiv region.
One of the two soldiers, Oleksandr Bobykin, assured the bar that his unit had been informed that it would carry out military exercises with the Belarusian army, reports Sky News. The unit would then have been redirected to Ukraine, according to his account. The two soldiers, according to Novaya Gazetaassured not to know, at the time of the shootings, which cities were targeted.
Both men pleaded guilty, apologizing for their actions, Sky News reported. Their trial is due to resume Thursday.