In Finland, the life sentence of a Russian Nazi convicted of shooting Ukrainians was overturned
The Helsinki Court of Appeals overturned the life sentence handed down to Yan Petrovsky, one of the leaders of the Russian group “Rusich,” also known as Vojislav Torden. Instead of a life sentence for war crimes in Ukraine, he was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison.
The court considered an appeal of the March 2025 verdict. The charges specifically concerned a 2014 ambush in which 22 fighters from the “Aidar” battalion were killed. The appellate court acknowledged that the defendant had fired upon Ukrainian soldiers but dismissed the charges of shooting wounded soldiers due to lack of evidence; it also did not recognize the act of marking a captive’s cheek with the group’s symbol as a war crime.
At the same time, the court found Torden guilty of war crimes for posting a photo on social media next to the body of a deceased Ukrainian soldier and for making public statements that his group does not take prisoners.
Source: Finnish broadcaster Yle.
In October 2024, prosecutors in Finland charged the founder and former commander of the “Rusich” military group, Voislav Torden (Yan Petrovsky), the founder and former commander of the “Rusich” military group, with charges of committing war crimes in eastern Ukraine.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine provided Finnish law enforcement with materials for an investigation into a Russian citizen, a member of the “Rusich” unit, who was arrested in Finland.
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