Russian War Criminal Yan Petrovsky Gets 12-Year Prison Term — Previously Given Life Sentence

The Helsinki Court of Appeals has handed down a ruling in the war crimes case involving Russian national Yan Petrovsky, also known as Vojislav Torden.

This was reported by YLE.

The court sentenced Petrovsky to 12.5 years in prison for three war crimes, although he had previously faced a life sentence.

In March of last year, the Helsinki District Court sentenced the Russian man to life in prison for four war crimes committed in 2014 during an ambush in eastern Ukraine. According to the court, the most serious of these was the murder of a Ukrainian soldier.

In the appeals court, Petrovsky demanded that the charges be dismissed or, at the very least, that his sentence be reduced. Meanwhile, the prosecutor demanded that the Russian be convicted on five counts.

The Court of Appeals concluded that Petrovsky was not liable as a leader for organizing the ambush, which was carried out on September 5, 2014, using a Ukrainian flag.

The ambush against the Aidar battalion in the Luhansk region resulted in the deaths of 22 Ukrainian soldiers and injuries to four others. The Court of Appeals determined that at least four of the deceased had sustained injuries during the attack.

The court recognized that Petrovsky served as deputy commander of the Rusich group. In addition to the commander and his deputy, at least two other members of the group participated in the ambush.

The Russian national denied his role in the group and his participation in the ambush. At the same time, the court established that Petrovsky fired a light machine gun at Ukrainian servicemen, which was classified as a war crime.

However, according to the appeals court, there was insufficient evidence in the case to prove that Petrovsky himself or the two other members of the Rusich group fired at the wounded Ukrainian servicemen.

The appellate court also determined that Petrovsky, as a leader, is not liable for the shooting at wounded Ukrainian servicemen and therefore dismissed the charges on this count.

At the same time, the court recognized that, by participating in joint military operations with others, Petrovsky bears partial responsibility for the killing and wounding of Ukrainian servicemen.

Furthermore, the court ruled that the Russian did not commit a war crime by carving the Rusich group’s symbol into the cheek of a Ukrainian serviceman.

In the court’s view, the wound was superficial, did not cause bleeding, and the damage to the cheek was temporary. Therefore, these actions “did not cause severe physical or mental suffering, which is necessary for classification as a war crime.”

The Court of Appeals also ordered Petrovsky to pay compensation to the soldiers wounded during the ambush and to the relatives of those killed.

Petrovsky was detained in August 2023.