Finland will investigate Russian neo-Nazi Petrovskyiʼs involvement in war crimes in Ukraine

The deputy chief prosecutor of Finland has decided to start a preliminary investigation into the war crimes of the co-founder of the sabotage-assault intelligence group "Rusich", neo-Nazi Jan Petrovskyi.

This is reported by the Finnish publication Yle.

The preliminary investigation will be conducted in Finland, as the court refused to extradite Petrovskyi to Ukraine. Finland can investigate crimes committed in Ukraine, as it is a so-called international crime.

According to the Criminal Code, an international crime is a crime whose punishment is based on an international agreement that is binding on Finland. In this case, regardless of the place where the crime was committed, Finnish law applies to it.

The preliminary investigation will be conducted by the Central Division of the Finnish Criminal Police.

• In Ukraine, Yan Petrovskyi is accused of participating in terrorist crimes in the ranks of "Rusych" in 2014-2015 in Donetsk region and Luhansk region. Petrovsky, together with the neo-Nazi Oleksiy Milchakov, is a co-founder of the Rusych SSRG and was the groupʼs commander when Milchakov was wounded. Petrovskyi in Ukraine faces 8 to 15 years in prison.
• In Finland, at Ukraineʼs request for extradition, Petrovskyi was detained in August 2023. It happened at the Helsinki airport when he was about to fly to Nice. Later it became known that he entered Finland under the name of Voyislav Torden. Thanks to his wifeʼs education in this country, he obtained a residence permit. At the same time, Petrovskyi is under EU and US sanctions, but they are imposed on his real name.
• The Supreme Court of Finland, which considered the extradition case of Petrovskyi, decided to release him on December 8. Ukraine was refused extradition. In making its decision, the court referred to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Supreme Court believes that Petrovskyi may be at risk of torture in Ukrainian prisons. The article states that "no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment." However, after his release, Petrovskyi was taken into custody again to find out the conditions of his stay in the country.