Rusich Leader Yan Petrovsky Appeals Finnish Court Sentence

Today, August 31, the Helsinki Court of Appeal is due to deliver its verdict in the case of Russian national Yan Petrovsky, also known as Voislav Torden, who is accused of committing war crimes in eastern Ukraine in September 2014.

The charges relate to an ambush in the Luhansk region and subsequent events in which 22 Ukrainian servicemen were killed, Yle reports.

A lower court previously sentenced Petrovsky to life imprisonment for four war crimes. According to the court, he was a member of the Sabotage Assault Reconnaissance Group ‘Rusich.’

Prosecutors at the Court of Appeal are also seeking a life sentence for Petrovsky. Voislav Torden himself denies all the charges against him.

Yan Petrovsky is a Russian serviceman who took part in fighting against Ukraine and is one of the leaders of the far-right Task Force ‘Rusich.’

He was detained in Finland, where he had been living under a different name in an attempt to evade prosecution.

Finland previously refused to extradite Yan Petrovsky to Ukraine due to concerns over prison conditions.