\n The first Russian soldier on trial for war crimes in Ukraine asked for \"forgiveness\" in a Kyiv court Thursday and described how he shot dead a civilian in the opening days of Russia's invasion.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I know that you will not be able to forgive me, but nevertheless I ask you for forgiveness,\" 21-year-old Russian sergeant Vadim Shishimarin said in court, addressing the widow of a 62-year-old civilian whom he admitted killing.\n<\/p>\n
\n Shishimarin faces possible life imprisonment in Ukraine on charges of war crimes and premeditated murder in a landmark war crimes trial against Moscow's forces.\n<\/p>\n
\n Two other Russian soldiers are in court for crimes against civilians, as Kyiv launched a judicial reckoning for alleged atrocities after nearly three months of war.\n<\/p>\n
\n Shishimarin told the court that he shot the civilian as he and several other Russian soldiers were retreating to rejoin their units in Russia.\n<\/p>\n
\n The soldiers found a civilian car, a Volkswagen, which they hijacked to \"get to where our army was and go back to Russia\", Shishimarin said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"On our way as we were driving, we saw a man. He was talking on the phone. He said he would give us up.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Shishimarin said another soldier in the car, who he said was not his commander and whom he called an \"unknown\" soldier, \"told me to shoot\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"He started to say in a forceful tone that I should shoot,\" he told the court.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"He said I would be putting us in danger if I didn't. I shot him at short range. It killed him.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Judges questioned him in Ukrainian, with an interpreter translating for Shishimarin -- who is from the Siberian region of Irkutsk -- into Russian.\n<\/p>\n
\n The killing took place near the village of Chupakhivka on February 28, four days into Moscow's invasion.\n<\/p>\n
\n The soldiers then took a civilian captive as they retreated into the forest, Shishimarin said, claiming they did not harm him.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Russians then \"voluntarily\" gave themselves up to Ukrainian forces.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'What did you come here for?' -\n<\/p>\n
\n The youthful-looking soldier, dressed in a grey and blue hoodie, looked towards the ground with his head leaning on the glass defence box where he was held as Kateryna Shelipova testified on her husband's death.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"What did you come here for, to free us from what?\" Shelipova asked the Russian soldier, referring to Moscow's claims that its troops are liberating Ukrainian territories.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"What did my husband do to you?\" she said, adding that she was getting water from a well when she \"heard the shot\".\n<\/p>\n
\n She then saw a car and \"a young man in it with a rifle. I remember him well\", she said, referring to Shishimarin.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Five minutes later I saw my husband. He was dead with a shot in his head. I started screaming very loudly.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n She said the incident took place around 11.00 am.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"My husband was in civilian clothing. In a coat and trousers,\" she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Another captive Russian soldier who was in the car, 20-year-old Ivan Matysov, told the court that the third unknown serviceman in the car \"shouted in a commanding tone\" to Shishimarin to shoot the civilian.\n<\/p>\n
\n Both soldiers -- Matysov and Shishimarin -- said the third man was not a more senior officer, suggesting Shishimarin was not obliged to follow the order to shoot.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Kremlin on Wednesday said it was not informed of Shishimarin's case. His lawyer said he had not had any contact with Russian officials.\n<\/p>\n
\n Kyiv says it has opened thousands of war crimes cases since Moscow launched its invasion.\n<\/p>\n
\n dg-oc\/jbr\/imm\n<\/p>\n
\n VOLKSWAGEN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The first Russian soldier on trial for war crimes in Ukraine asked for \"forgiveness\" in a Kyiv court Thursday and described how he shot dead a civilian in the opening days of Russia's invasion. \"I know that you will not be able to forgive me, but nevertheless I ask you for forgiveness,\" 21-year-old Russian sergeant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-92475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n