HELSINKI — A trial has commenced in Finland for a man facing accusations of war crimes allegedly perpetrated against Ukrainian troops in a region of Ukraine supported by Russian separatists since 2014.
Prosecutors are pursuing a life sentence for the defendant, whose trial began on Thursday at the Helsinki district court, according to reports from the Finnish public broadcaster YLE.
Although the suspect’s identity was not disclosed during the announcement of the charges, Finnish media have identified him as Yan Petrovsky, a Russian national who had been residing in Finland under the pseudonym Voislav Torden.
His attorney, Heikki Lampela, stated that Petrovsky would contest all accusations.
Petrovsky was apprehended in July 2023 at Helsinki Airport while attempting to fly to Nice, France, with his family.
The Supreme Court of Finland determined that he could not be extradited to Ukraine, where he was subject to an arrest warrant, due to concerns regarding potential inhumane conditions in Ukrainian prisons. Consequently, Finnish prosecutors stated that they are obligated to conduct the trial within Finland.
When the charges were filed on October 31, prosecutors mentioned that these allegations relate to Petrovsky’s supposed involvement with a unit named Rusich, which fought in the Russian-backed Luhansk separatist region against Ukrainian forces. They noted that he is “accused of having participated, as the unit’s deputy commander, in actions that contravene the laws of war, leading to the deaths of 22 Ukrainian soldiers and causing serious injuries to four others.”
Additional accusations include “breaches of the laws of war regarding tactics and the treatment of wounded and deceased enemy combatants.”
The conflict traces its roots back to March 2014 when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Following this, separatist forces, with support from Moscow, initiated an uprising in the eastern Ukrainian area known as Donbas, which has since transformed into an enduring conflict. In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
