Kyiv refuses to release the first Russian soldier convicted of war crimes in a prisoner of war exchange

Ukraine currently has no plans to exchange Vadim Shishimarin – the first Russian soldier convicted of war crimes since the start of the large-scale invasion – as part of a prisoner exchange with Moscow, the Prosecutor General’s Office said.

In May 2022, a court in Kyiv sentenced 21-year-old Sergeant Shishimarin to life imprisonment, the first verdict related to war crimes committed by Russia during its large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

According to the indictment, Shishimarin killed a 62-year-old civilian in the northern Ukrainian region of Sumy in late February 2022 during Moscow’s retreat. Shishimarin’s prison sentence was later reduced to 15 years.

Kyiv rejected a request from Russia to include the soldier in a prisoner exchange, saying no exchange is currently planned, the head of the war crimes department at the Prosecutor General’s Office, Yuri Belousov, told Ukrinform. He also said Kyiv does not rule out a future exchange.

According to Belousov, 17 Russian soldiers have been convicted of war crimes by Ukrainian courts. A possible exchange of each of them is being considered separately, he added.

“If our people were not there (in Russian captivity), things would be different, but if we assume that our people are there, then this must be taken into account,” Belousov said.

“I do not rule out that such exchanges could take place. But according to the general rules, we do not exchange persons who have committed serious crimes, because that is the fundamental position of the Attorney General’s Office.”

Kyiv is seeking an “all for all” prisoner exchange, which was one of the topics of the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland in mid-June.

In the last prisoner exchange, which ended on June 28, 100 Ukrainians were released, including 90 soldiers and 10 civilians. In total, 3,310 Ukrainians were freed from Russian captivity.

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