Russian war criminal attempts to appeal sentence in Finland

Voislav Torden (Yan Petrovsky), former Rusich Group commander who was convicted in Finland of committing war crimes in Ukraine, is seeking to appeal a court decision that reduced his sentence from life imprisonment to 12 and a half years in prison.

According to Finnish public broadcaster Yle, in its initial ruling in March 2025, the Helsinki District Court sentenced Petrovsky to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of four war crimes, prompting him to appeal and demand the dismissal of the charges or a reduced sentence.

In late August 2026, following an appeal hearing, Torden's life sentence was reduced to 12 years and six month imprisonment after one of the four charges was dismissed.

Petrovsky has now filed an application for leave to appeal the Helsinki Court of Appeal's decision regarding the reduced sentence as well.

The court established that in September 2014, the Russian militant participated in an ambush near a checkpoint in Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine, resulting in the deaths or injuries of nearly 30 Ukrainian soldiers in total.

Petrovsky has denied all charges.

Yan Petrovsky was detained while attempting to enter Finland in 2023. The court refused to extradite him to Ukraine due to the conditions in Ukrainian prisons.