One of the Leaders of Rusich SARG Appealed His Life Sentence in Finland

Russian neo-Nazi Yan Petrovsky, one of the leaders of the Rusich Sabotage Assault Reconnaissance Group (SARG), who was sentenced to life in prison in Finland for war crimes in Ukraine, has filed an appeal with a Helsinki court.

This was reported by Yleisradio, the national broadcasting company of Finland.

Consideration of the appeal in the war crimes case of Russian national Yan Petrovsky began on January 9 at the Helsinki Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal has eight days of hearings scheduled for the main hearing.

Along with the defendant himself, the prosecutor’s office also filed an appeal. While the district court found Torden partially responsible for the death of one wounded soldier, the prosecutor’s office believes that Rusich fighters caused the deaths of 22 Ukrainian soldiers and injured four.

However, the district court rejected the charge that Petrovsky, as deputy commander of Rusich Group, was responsible for organizing an ambush in September 2014 on Ukrainian Aidar Battalion fighters near Shchastia, where Russian neo-Nazis cut off the ears of some of the victims.

According to the verdict, there were other troops or groups at the site, and it cannot be proved that Rusich Group was responsible for organizing and conducting the ambush and subsequent attack.

Arrest in Finland and trial

In 2023, Petrovsky’s wife received permission to study in Finland. Together with her, he was allowed to enter the country and given a residence permit. However, in July of the same year, he was detained at the Helsinki airport before his flight to Nice.

The Prosecutor General of Finland accused Petrovsky of five war crimes committed in Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014-2015. He was also accused of violating the rules of war and ill-treatment of wounded and killed soldiers.

In 2023, Ukraine sent a request for extradition of the war criminal, but the Supreme Court of Finland refused, citing the conditions of detention in Ukrainian prisons and the threat to the accused’s life.

In March 2025, the District Court of Helsinki sentenced Petrovsky to life imprisonment for four war crimes committed in Ukraine in 2014.

Such a sentence in Finland theoretically allows a criminal to be kept in prison for the rest of his life, but in practice, the average sentence is limited to 12-14 years, after which he is released on parole by a decision of the Supreme Court.