On May 23, 2022, Solomianskyi District Court pronounced Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin guilty of murdering a man in the Sumy region. He was given a life sentence under the article “violations of the laws and customs of war.” This verdict became the first to concern the war crimes of Russian soldiers during the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Vadim Shishimarin is a 21-year-old sergeant and commander of the Kantemirov tank division of the Moscow region. According to the investigation, Vadim Shishimarin, along with other Russian soldiers, crossed the Ukrainian border from the Belgorod region. The soldier said he didn’t know he was going to the war and only had 3 days’ worth of dry rations.
On the morning of February 28, Shishimarin and his column were moving through Ukraine’s Sumy region towards Russia. They were carrying the wounded. The Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked them near the village of Hrinchenkove breaking the column. The Russians lost their transport and got broken up into several groups.
The soldiers were in the village of Chupahivka in the Sumy region on February 28 when they saw a 62-year-old civilian, Oleksandr Shelipov, on the phone. Shishimarin received an order to shoot at the man because the latter could have been reporting the Russians’ location to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Shishimarin refused at first. After being given the command again, he killed Shelipov with a single shot in the latter’s head.
This got the Russians ambushed by local “hunters”. The Russians hid on a farm overnight and then surrendered to the locals along with their arms.
Shishimarin pleaded guilty and stated that he was ordered to shoot at a peaceful civilian. “I recognise my guilt. I understand that you won’t be able to forgive me. I apologise for everything I’ve done,” he said during the court hearing.
The Kyiv Court of Appeals changed Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin’s life sentence to 15 years’ imprisonment in July.
