In the Solomensky Court of Kyiv, the lawyer of Vadim Shishimarin, a captured Russian sergeant accused of killing a civilian in the Sumy region at the end of February, spoke in a debate. Shishimarin had previously pleaded guilty. The day before, the prosecutor demanded a life sentence for him under the article “Violation of the laws and customs of war.” This is the first Russian soldier to stand trial on charges of war crimes since the invasion of Ukraine.

Lawyer Viktor Ovsyannikov in his speech asked to acquit the accused. According to him, Shishimarin succumbed to the pressure of two persons, whom he considered his commanders, and complied with the requirements of the regulations of the Russian armed forces.

As Ovsyannikov explained to the court, according to the regulations of the Russian army, juniors in rank must unquestioningly obey and follow the instructions of senior ranks.

In addition, Shishimarin, according to the lawyer, fired aimless shots. From a short automatic burst of three or four shots, one hit the victim, 62-year-old Alexander Shelipov.

The 21-year-old Shishimarin, as his lawyer insists, carried out the order formally, hoping that he would not hit a person.

The correct qualification of the case is manslaughter, the lawyer told the BBC correspondent. This article provides for up to five years in prison.

According to the defender, Shishimarin had no intention to commit the crime of which he is accused, he only wanted to save his life. Shishimarin later voluntarily surrendered.

In the dock, Ovsyannikov said, there should be the top leadership of the state that unleashed the war, and not Shishimarin.

The sergeant himself, in his short last word, again apologized and said that he did not want to kill Shelipov. “I sincerely repent of what I did. At that moment I was nervous, there were hostilities, and I didn’t want to kill, but it happened … Subsequently, I realized that it was better to surrender,” he said.

Shishimarin’s verdict will be read out on Monday, May 23.

The prosecutor’s office requested a life sentence for Shishimarin, referring to the opinion of the victim – the widow of the murdered, despite Shishimarin’s remorse and his assistance in solving the crime.

“This is just one of the stories that are very numerous after February 24. The wife was left without a husband, and the children and grandchildren were left without a father and grandfather. This case should become indicative,” prosecutor Andrei Sinyuk said in court.

The day before, the widow of the deceased, Shishimarin, and two witnesses for the prosecution, the neighbor of the Shelipovs, as well as another captured Russian soldier, Ivan Maltisov, were interrogated in court. He was next to Shishimarin at the time of the murder, which took place in the village of Chupakhovka in the Sumy region on February 28.

The widow Katerina Shelipova said that in the morning of that day her husband left the cellar where they were hiding and left on a bicycle. Soon she heard a shot. Looking outside, she saw the military, including Shishimarin. When the military left, she found her murdered husband on the street. “I started screaming. I screamed a lot,” Shelipova said.

The widow stated in court that she wants Shishimarin to be sentenced to life imprisonment, specifying that she would not object to being exchanged for Ukrainian soldiers from Azovstal.

“I admit that you won’t be able to forgive me, but I’m sorry,” Shishimarin told her. He fully admitted his guilt at the first court hearing on Wednesday. He said that he was ordered to shoot a civilian by an ensign and another person who was with them in the car.

According to the defendant’s story, the ensign saw Shelipov talking on the phone and ordered Shishimarin to shoot. Shishimarin, according to him, hesitated and did not shoot. Then another person (“unknown”) turned to Shishimarin. He began to yell at the sergeant and demand that he shoot, because otherwise they would be in danger. “I didn’t want to kill him. I shot to get away from me,” Shishimarin said in court.

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