Finland court cuts Rusich co-founder Torden's war crimes sentence from life to 12.5 years
Finland's Helsinki Court of Appeal reduced the sentence of Voislav Torden (Yan Petrovsky), co-founder of the Russian neo-Nazi Rusich group, from life imprisonment to 12.5 years for war crimes committed in Ukraine in 2014. The court dismissed several charges, including command responsibility and the personal-killing charge, while confirming other war crimes including firing on Ukrainian soldiers and distributing photographs of a burned Ukrainian soldier's body.
Key points
- Finland's Helsinki Court of Appeal reduced Voislav Torden's sentence from life imprisonment to 12.5 years for war crimes committed in Ukraine in 2014.
- Torden, also known as Yan Petrovsky, is a co-founder of the Russian neo-Nazi Rusich group, which fought alongside Russia-backed militants in Ukraine from 2014 and later operated with the Russian army.
- A Helsinki District Court sentenced Torden to life in prison in March 2025 for four war crimes; prosecutors had sought punishment for five.
- The Court of Appeal ruled evidence does not unambiguously establish that Torden personally shot wounded Ukrainian soldiers or bears command responsibility for those killings, though it recognized him as at least partially responsible as a participant.
- The court did not classify the carving of a Rusich symbol on a Ukrainian fighter's cheek as a war crime, finding the wound superficial and causing only short-term damage.
- The court confirmed Torden committed war crimes by firing a machine gun at Ukrainian personnel, photographing the Rusich commander in front of a severely burned Ukrainian soldier's body, and posting statements that Rusich does not take prisoners.
- According to the charges, Rusich fighters killed 22 Ukrainian soldiers and seriously wounded four in autumn 2014, including in an ambush of the Aidar battalion where Russians lured soldiers with a Ukrainian flag.
- Torden is subject to EU and US sanctions; Finland's Supreme Court earlier refused to extradite him to Ukraine, citing inadequate prison conditions.
Why it matters
The case is a rare prosecution of a Russian-aligned fighter for war crimes committed in Ukraine, and its outcome is likely to shape how courts in third countries handle similar cases. The reduction from life to 12.5 years — including the dismissal of certain charges and the finding that the carved Rusich symbol on a soldier's cheek was not a war crime — is likely to be viewed as a setback for accountability efforts by Ukraine. Finland's Supreme Court earlier refused to extradite Petrovsky to Ukraine on the grounds of prison conditions, meaning he will serve any sentence in Finland rather than Ukraine.
What happened
Finland's Helsinki Court of Appeal reduced the sentence of Voislav Torden (Yan Petrovsky), co-founder of the Russian neo-Nazi Rusich group, from life imprisonment to 12.5 years for war crimes committed in Ukraine in 2014. In March 2025, the Helsinki District Court had sentenced Torden to life in prison for four war crimes; prosecutors had sought punishment for five. Torden had asked the court to drop the charges or reduce the sentence.
On appeal, the court found that evidence does not unambiguously establish that Torden personally shot wounded Ukrainian military personnel or that he can be considered primarily responsible for those killings, and it ruled he did not bear command responsibility for the shooting of wounded Ukrainian soldiers. The court did, however, recognize him as at least partially responsible for those events as a participant. The court confirmed that Torden committed a war crime by firing a machine gun at Ukrainian military personnel, and it confirmed as war crimes his photographing of the Rusich commander in front of the severely burned body of a dead Ukrainian soldier and distributing the photo on social media, as well as his online statements that Rusich does not take prisoners.
The court declined to classify as a war crime the carving of a Rusich group symbol on a Ukrainian fighter's cheek, concluding the wound was superficial, without bleeding, and caused only short-term damage without severe physical or psychological suffering.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Both Ukrainian-language sources present the outcome as a reduction or cancellation of the life sentence and emphasize specific rulings seen as minimizing the crimes — the dismissal of command responsibility, the non-recognition of the carved symbol on a soldier's cheek as a war crime, and the rejection of the most serious personal-killing charge. Ukrainian coverage foregrounds details specific to the victims, including the ambush of the Aidar battalion, the luring of soldiers with a Ukrainian flag, and the distribution of photographs of a burned Ukrainian soldier's body on social media.
Where reporting differs
The two Ukrainian-language sources frame the sentencing outcome differently in tone: one emphasizes the reduction of the sentence from life to 12.5 years as the headline development, while the other highlights the court's specific finding that the carving of a Rusich symbol on a Ukrainian soldier's cheek did not constitute a war crime because the wound was superficial.
Background
The Rusich group fought in Ukraine on the side of Russia-backed militants starting in 2014 and later operated alongside the Russian army; Ukraine's NAZK has stated the group has ties to the Wagner PMC. Torden/Petrovsky previously lived in Norway from 2004 and was active in far-right organizations in Norway and Sweden before fighting in Ukraine in 2014–2015. He is subject to EU and US sanctions and is banned from entering the Schengen zone. He was detained in Finland on July 20, 2023, at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport when attempting to fly to Nice using a Russian passport and a Finnish residence permit in the name of Voislav Torden.