The Court of Appeal of Finland has reviewed the case of Voislav Torden, formerly known as Yan Petrovsky, one of the leaders of the Russian neo-Nazi group 'Rusich'. The court overturned the life sentence handed down in March 2025 and replaced it with 12.5 years of imprisonment. The appeal was contentious: Torden himself sought either a full acquittal or a substantial reduction of the sentence, while the Finnish prosecution insisted on conviction on five counts of war crimes. The outcome was a compromise — some charges were dismissed, but guilt on a number of serious episodes was upheld.
What the Court of Appeal established
The key confirmed episode was the September 2014 ambush on fighters of the Ukrainian 'Aidar' battalion. The Court of Appeal found that Torden personally fired a machine gun at Ukrainian servicemen. According to the case file, the occupiers lured the defenders using the Ukrainian flag as bait, as a result of which 22 fighters were killed and four more were wounded. It was precisely this episode that formed the basis for maintaining the war crimes charges at the level of direct participation in the combat engagement.
Which episodes were dropped
At the same time, the court found the evidence of the direct execution of Ukrainian fighters by Torden himself or by other members of the group insufficient, which led to the dismissal of the corresponding episodes. The court also relieved him of command (commander's) responsibility for these actions. The episode involving the branding of the 'Rusich' symbol on a prisoner's cheek was also dismissed: the court deemed the wound superficial and not causing prolonged suffering, and therefore it was not classified as a separate crime.
Where guilt was confirmed
Despite the reduced sentence, the court confirmed Torden's guilt in other war crimes related to the abuse of fallen Ukrainian warriors. In particular, publishing a photograph on social media was deemed a crime, showing the commander of the 'Rusich' group against the backdrop of a heavily burned body of a fallen Ukrainian defender. In addition, guilt was confirmed for public statements on the internet that the 'Rusich' group categorically does not take Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters prisoner.
Contradictory data
The available sources contain discrepancies in the assessment of Torden's role in the 'Rusich' structure: in some materials he is described as one of the leaders of the group, in others — as the former deputy commander of a storm unit. There is also a gap between the positions of the parties: the prosecution sought conviction on five counts of war crimes, whereas the appeal confirmed guilt only on part of them, dismissing the episodes of direct execution and command responsibility. These inconsistencies in the wording of his role and in the scope of the confirmed charges have been taken into account in the text.
How the fighter ended up in a Finnish court
Voislav Torden (Yan Petrovsky) had lived in Norway since 2004 and participated in the activities of far-right organizations. In 2014–2015 he fought against Ukraine in the Donbas, after which Ukrainian law enforcement authorities placed him on the wanted list on suspicion of creating a terrorist group. The fighter is under EU and US sanctions. He was detained in Finland in July 2023 at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, when he attempted to fly to France using a passport in the name of Torden. Ukraine requested extradition, however the Supreme Court of Finland refused to hand him over, citing allegedly inadequate conditions in Ukrainian prisons, as a result of which the case was heard by a Finnish court, which in March 2025 handed down a life sentence.
Context: 'Rusich' and 'Wagner'
The 'Rusich' group is linked to the Wagner private military company, and its mercenaries are accused of systematic brutality and torture of prisoners. The Torden case has become one of the few examples of the judicial prosecution of fighters from this group within a European jurisdiction on charges of war crimes, which gives the handed-down sentence broad international resonance.
