The Prosecutorʼs Office of Finland is demanding life imprisonment for one of the leaders of the Russian Nazi group "Rusich" Yan Petrovsky for committing war crimes in the east of Ukraine.
This was reported by the Finnish broadcaster Yle.
Petrovsky was charged with five war crimes committed in eastern Ukraine in the fall of 2014. This is the first case when Finland indicts a Russian for crimes committed in Ukraine.
Petrovsky, as deputy commander of "Rusich", took part in actions that violate the norms of military law. According to the indictment, he and other fighters of the unit killed 22 Ukrainian soldiers and seriously wounded four. In addition, he is accused of violating the laws and customs of war — this concerns the treatment of wounded and killed Ukrainian military personnel. Petrovsky is known for torturing captured Ukrainian soldiers and looting.
Jan Petrovskyi (second from right) at the Helsinki District Court on December 5, 2024.
Yle
According to the investigation, in September 2014, as the deputy commander of the group, Petrovsky gave the order to shoot a convoy of the Ukrainian unit "Aidar" and executed the soldiers himself.
The investigation interviewed eyewitnesses from among Ukrainian fighters who survived at the time. One of them said that Petrovsky was shooting Ukrainians who were lying on the ground. Two other witnesses confirmed that the shot soldiers, before their death, asked not to kill them.
At the same time, the investigation established that in the video of the shooting, it was not Petrovsky who gave the order to open fire. At the same time, the accused himself took pictures with the bodies of the murdered Ukrainians.
Petrovsky denies his guilt. The prosecutionʼs evidence is based on videos filmed and published by members of the “Rusich” group.
Petrovskyʼs lawyer claims that Petrovsky is not guilty of the crimes alleged by the prosecution and that the “Rusich” group does not adhere to neo-Nazi ideology.
- "Rusich" is a Russian neo-Nazi paramilitary group that participates in hostilities together with the Russian military in Ukraine. Yan Petrovsky became the commander of "Rusich" after his neo-Nazi predecessor Oleksiy Milchakov was wounded. Petrovsky in Ukraine faces 8 to 15 years in prison.
- Petrovsky was caught in Finland in July 2023, he was recognized by border guards. Since he is on the EU sanctions list under his former name Yan Petrovsky, he was banned from entering Finland. He denied that he deliberately broke the law because he thought the entry ban had already expired.
- Ukraine sought the extradition of Petrovsky, but the Supreme Court of Finland rejected Kyivʼs request due to the conditions of detention of prisoners in Ukrainian colonies. After that, the Finnish authorities started their investigation against him.
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