Court in Finland sentences Rusich group commander to life imprisonment for war crimes in Ukraine
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 available suggested Tordenin had committed five criminal acts in Luhansk Oblast on 5 September 2014. The court dismissed one of the charges.
The charges relate to Tordenin's activities in the Rusich neo-Nazi military group, which fought on the side of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) militants and which is backed by Russia.
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 last year, Tordenin was sentenced to two years in prison in Finland for twice violating a ban to enter 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.
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