Voislav Torden’s Life Sentence Cut to 12.5 Years
The court upheld convictions for three war crimes and ordered compensation after finding Torden partly responsible for a 2014 ambush that killed 22 soldiers.
- The Helsinki Court reduced the life sentence of Russian militant Voislav Torden, also known as Yan Petrovsky, to 12 years and six months on August 31, finding him guilty of war crimes committed in 2014.
- Torden served as deputy commander of the Russian paramilitary group Rusich, which participated in a September 5, 2014 ambush against the Aidar Battalion in Luhansk, killing 22 Ukrainian soldiers and wounding four.
- One charge regarding a symbol carved into a soldier was dismissed due to insufficient evidence of severe suffering, but judges upheld convictions for machine gun fire and propaganda about Rusich's no-mercy policy.
- Detained in Finland since 2023, Torden remains under European Union sanctions after the Supreme Court rejected Ukraine's extradition request citing concerns over prison conditions.
- In a separate case, Ukrainian paratrooper Andrii from the 79th Air Assault Brigade told UNITED24 Media that a surgeon burned the words "Glory to Russia" into his stomach during Russian captivity lasting more than 14 months.
31 Articles
31 Articles
Finnish court reduces Russian neo-Nazi Voislav Torden’s sentence in Ukraine war crimes case — 12.5 years instead of life
The Helsinki Court of Appeal has reduced the sentence of neo-Nazi Voislav Torden — formerly known as Yan Petrovsky, one of the commanders of the sabotage and assault reconnaissance group “Rusich,” in a war crimes case tied to the conflict in Ukraine, and ordered him to serve 12 and a half years in prison on three counts.
The far-right militia Rusich has been deployed by the Kremlin in Ukraine since 2014. The group's leader is imprisoned in Finland for war crimes. Now a court has reduced his sentence.
A Finnish court on Monday reduced the life sentence of a Russian neo-Nazi convicted of war crimes related to a 2014 ambush in Ukraine to 12 years and six months.
Voislav Torden’s life sentence cut to 12.5 years
The Helsinki Court of Appeal has reduced the life sentence of Russian national Voislav Torden to 12 years and six months after finding him guilty of three war crimes committed in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The Helsinki District Court had convicted him of four war crimes in March 2025 and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The appeal court found that Torden, formerly known as Yan Petrovsky, took part in an ambush carried out by the far-right Rusic…
Finland Cuts Russian War Criminal’s Sentence, Rules Facial Carving Did Not Cause Enough Suffering
A Finnish appeals court has reduced the life sentence of Russian militant Voislav Torden, also known as Yan Petrovsky, to 12 years and six months after finding him guilty of three war crimes committed against Ukrainian soldiers in 2014.
One of the founders of the DShRG Rusich, Torden (Jan Petrovsky), had his life sentence commuted to 12.5 years in prison in Finland
One of the founders of the DShRG Rusich, Torden (Jan Petrovsky), had his life sentence commuted to 12.5 years in prison in Finland. He was previously found guilty in the case of war crimes in Ukraine in 2014-2015.Torden was detained in July 2023...
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