The Helsinki District Court arrested the Russian neo-Nazi and one of the leaders of the sabotage and assault reconnaissance group «Rusich» Jan Petrovsky (Vojislav Torden), who is suspected of committing war crimes in Ukraine, reports the Finnish publication Iltalehti.
About The arrest of 36-year-old Torden was requested by the Finnish Central Criminal Police (KRP). He will remain in custody until May 31, 2024. The Finnish prosecutor's office began a preliminary investigation into the case on December 15.
According to the prosecution, from June 2014 to August 2015, Torden committed crimes in the self-proclaimed LPR and DPR against wounded and surrendered Ukrainian soldiers: under Torden’s command, they were tortured and their ears were cut off in order to take them as “hunting trophies,” reported prosecutor's office
As the BBC Russian Service notes, together with another commander of “Rusich” Alexei Milchakov, Petrovsky posted photos and videos against the backdrop of killed soldiers of the “Aidar” battalion in the Lugansk region.
As Iltalehti writes, before the start of the hearing, Thorden stood at the door of the courtroom with a piece of paper on which were written the names of two St. Petersburg stores. According to the publication, both stores belong to a neo-Nazi: one sells sports nutrition, and the other sells combat equipment. Between the names of the companies, Thorden drew the letter Z. When asked by his lawyer what this text meant, the suspect answered through an interpreter: “Advertising.”
The preliminary investigation will be carried out in Finland, since the country's Supreme Court did not allow Torden to be extradited to Ukraine. The court referred to the ECHR ruling, according to which the conditions of detention in Ukrainian prisons violatethird articleof the European Convention on Human Rights.
In the summer, Torden was detained for violating immigration laws at Helsinki airport when he tried to fly to Nice. Petrovsky, who changed his name to Vojislav Torden, moved to Finland with his wife and three children. His wife received a study permit in the country, so Thorden was given a residence permit as a family member. However, on July 20, border guards checked the photos and found out that Torden and Petrovsky were the same person.
Torden was sent to a temporary accommodation center, and on August 23 he was transferred to prison in connection with a request from the Ukrainian side.
Petrovsky had previously been detained in Europe. This happened in 2016 in Norway, where he had lived since 2004. According to Finnish media, there he was a member of the far-right organization “Soldiers of Odin.” Norwegian authorities called Petrovsky a threat to the country's security, deprived him of his residence permit and deported him to Russia.
The EU and the USA imposed sanctions against Petrovsky. One of the reasons for this was the alleged involvement of “Rusich” in the Wagner PMC. The UK added Petrovsky to the sanctions list on December 6.
In an interview with Meduza in 2017, Petrovsky, also known as the “Slav” or “Great Slav,” said that he “did not commit war crimes” and “purely participated in military operations» in Ukraine.