Finnish Court Holds Russian Ultranationalist Accountable for War Crimes in Ukraine, Sentences Him to Life Imprisonment

A Finnish court sentenced Russian ultranationalist Vojislav Torden to life imprisonment on Friday for war crimes he committed during the conflict in Ukraine in 2014, which included the mutilation of an injured Ukrainian soldier.

The Helsinki District Court convicted Torden, a commander of the far-right paramilitary group Rusich, of four counts of war crimes related to incidents in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.

Prosecutors had charged Torden, previously known as Yan Petrovsky, with five war crimes, including his alleged role in an ambush that led to the deaths of 22 Ukrainian soldiers. However, the court rejected the most significant accusation, determining that the evidence did not sufficiently demonstrate that Torden and Rusich were responsible for planning and executing the ambush.

«The evidence does not support the conclusion that the Rusich unit was specifically accountable for organizing and conducting the ambush and arson attack in its entirety,» the court stated.

Nonetheless, Torden was found guilty of commanding Rusich fighters present at the ambush site and for the murder of a wounded soldier. He was also convicted for allowing his fighters to carve the symbol of Rusich—a kolovrat, or «spoked wheel»—onto the face of another injured soldier, Ivan Issyk, who later succumbed to his injuries.

The kolovrat is often associated with ultranationalist and neo-Nazi groups in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Moreover, the court concluded that Torden took and circulated degrading images of a deceased soldier on social media.

Finland employs the principle of «universal jurisdiction,» which enables it to prosecute severe crimes committed anywhere globally.