Finland indicted Russian neo-Nazi for war crimes in Ukraine

In Finland, a Russian neo-Nazi from the Rusich group, Yan Petrovsky, who has been fighting in Donbas since 2014,  was charged with five war crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine. UNN reports this with reference to the Office of the Prosecutor General.

Prosecutors do not name the citizen of the Russian Federation, but judging by the case file, it is Jan Petrovsky.

Details

The Deputy Prosecutor General of Finland in the Helsinki District Court has filed charges against a Russian citizen arrested in Finland, who is suspected of committing five war crimes in Ukraine in 2014

The charges are related to the activities of the suspect in the Rusych unit, which fought on the side of the so-called "LPR".

According to the Finnish investigation, Petrovsky, as a deputy commander of the unit, participated in actions that violated the laws and customs of war. He and the soldiers of the unit killed 22 Ukrainian servicemen and seriously wounded four.

In addition, he is accused of actions contrary to the laws and customs of war regarding the way of conducting hostilities and the treatment of wounded and killed enemy soldiers.

The charges are considered in Finland as international crimes under Finnish law. Petrovsky cannot be extradited to Ukraine, and therefore Finland has launched its own investigation, the Prosecutor General's Office added. 

Recall

In 2016, Ukrainian law enforcement officers served Jan Petrovsky with a notice of suspicion of participation in a terrorist organization.

In July 2023, the Finnish police arrested a Russian man living in the country on the basis of his wife's study permit under the fictitious name Voislav Torden. He is suspected of terrorist crimes in Ukraine.

Subsequently, the issue of his extradition to Ukraine was to be resolved, in accordance with the request.

In December 2023, Finland launched its own investigation into Petrovsky's crimes committed during the hostilities in Ukraine.