Ukraine to launch first war crimes trials of Russia conflict

Kyiv: The office of Ukraine's prosecutor general on Wednesday revealed that a 21-year-old Russian captured soldier accused of killing a civilian is set to be in the dock in the first war crimes trials of the Ukraine conflict.

Vadim Shishimarin is accused of firing an automatic rifle from a car window, killing an unarmed 62-year-old civilian to prevent him from serving as a witness to a carjacking, according to a statement from the prosecutor's office.

After his convoy was hit in northern Ukraine on February 28, Shishimarin joined four other fleeing soldiers and stole a car from outside the village of Chupakhivka, the statement added.

The civilian, who was not named, was riding his bicycle on the side of the road not far from his home when the alleged theft took place, the office said.

"One of the military servicemen ordered the accused to kill a civilian so that he would not report them," according to the statement from prosecutor Iryna Venediktova's office.

"The man died on the spot just a few dozen meters from his home," it added.

The Russian service member, who is in custody, faces possible life imprisonment on charges of war crimes and premeditated murder.

Venediktova said the soldier could get up to 15 years in prison. She did not say when the trial would start.

The prosecutor's office released a blurred photo of Shishimarin but did not detail how he came to be in Ukrainian custody or what happened to the other service members in his group at the time of the alleged killing.

Venediktova's office has said it has been investigating more than 10,700 alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces and has identified over 600 suspects.

Kyiv and Washington have repeatedly accused Russian troops of committing war crimes since the February 24 invasion, which has sparked a massive exodus of nearly six million civilians, many of whom bear accounts of torture, sexual violence, and indiscriminate destruction.