In Finland, Russian neo-Nazi Jan Petrovsky was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes in Ukraine.
This was reported by the Finnish broadcaster Yle.
Petrovsky is a co-founder of the Russian Nazi group “Rusich”, which fought in Ukraine on the side of Russian-backed militants and later the Russian army. He and Rusich fighters are accused of killing a total of 22 Ukrainian soldiers and seriously wounding four in the fall of 2014.
In September 2014, near the village of Shchastya in the Luhansk region, “Rusich” militants ambushed and routed a column of the “Aidar” battalion. “Rusich” leader Oleksiy Milchakov, who took part in the operation, openly recounted how he took photos with the bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers, while Rusych fighters cut off the ears of some of them.
The court dismissed one charge that Petrovsky, who was the deputy commander of "Rusich," led the groupʼs fighters when they organized an ambush on Ukrainian soldiers.
Petrovsky denied all charges. This is the first time Finland has charged a Russian for crimes committed in Ukraine.
- "Rusich" is a Russian neo-Nazi paramilitary group that is fighting alongside the Russian military in Ukraine. Yan Petrovsky became the commander of "Rusich" after his predecessor, neo-Nazi Oleksiy Milchakov, was wounded. Petrovsky faces 8 to 15 years in prison in Ukraine.
- Petrovsky was caught in Finland in July 2023 and identified by border guards. Since he is on the EU sanctions list under his former name, Jan Petrovsky, he was banned from entering Finland. He denied that he had intentionally violated the law, believing that the entry ban had already expired.
- Ukraine sought Petrovskyʼs extradition, but the Finnish Supreme Court rejected Kyivʼs request due to the conditions of prisoners in Ukrainian colonies. After that, Finnish authorities began their own investigation against him.
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