The Helsinki District Court in Finland has sentenced Russian national Voislav Torden (Yan Petrovsky) to life imprisonment for four war crimes, Yle reports, UNN writes.
Details
The prosecutor demanded a life sentence for Torden for five war crimes in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The court rejected one charge.
The court believes that Torden was undoubtedly a member of a volunteer group or detachment called "Rusich" during the incriminated actions, who participated in an armed attack on fighters of the "Aydar" battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
The court rejected the accusation that Torden, as the deputy commander of "Rusich", helped to manage the actions of the "Rusich" fighters, when on September 5, 2014, the "Rusich" fighters organized and carried out an ambush and arson using the Ukrainian flag.
In court, the prosecutor noted that the evidence presented indicated that Torden committed five criminal acts in the Luhansk region on September 5, 2014.
In court, Torden denied the charges and denied his involvement in the ambush.
38-year-old Voislav Torden was called Yan Petrovsky at the time of the events.
This is the first time that charges have been brought in a Finnish court against suspects in war crimes during the war in Ukraine.
The trial and verdict took place in Finland, as the country's Supreme Court decided that Ukraine's request for Torden's extradition could not be granted.