The Helsinki District Court in Finland found Voislav Tordenin (Jan Petrovsky), the founder and former commander of the Rusich military group, guilty of committing war crimes in Ukraine and sentenced him to life imprisonment on 14 March.
Source: European Pravda with reference to Finnish public service media company Yle
Details: During the hearing, the prosecution argued that the evidence suggested Tordenin had committed five criminal acts in Luhansk Oblast on 5 September 2014. The court dismissed one of the charges.
The charge sheet stated that Tordenin, as a deputy commander, not only shot Ukrainian soldiers himself but also gave orders to others to do so. The evidence of the crimes mostly consists of video recordings, as the group filmed and posted these videos online.
At the trial, Tordenin denied all charges and denied any involvement in war crimes.
Background:
- In February 2024, Tordenin was sentenced to two years imprisonment in Finland for twice violating a ban on entering the country.
- In December 2023, the Finnish Supreme Court ruled that the man could not be extradited to Ukraine because he would allegedly face degrading treatment there.
- In October 2024 it became known that the Finnish Central Criminal Police had completed a preliminary investigation into Tordenin.
