- Category
- World
Finland Cuts Russian War Criminal’s Sentence, Rules Facial Carving Did Not Cause Enough Suffering
Prefer U24 Media on Google
- Authors
![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
A Finnish appeals court has reduced the life sentence of Russian militant Voislav Torden, also known as Yan Petrovsky, to 12 years and six months after finding him guilty of three war crimes committed against Ukrainian soldiers in 2014.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
The Helsinki Court of Appeal partially overturned an earlier ruling that had sentenced Torden to life imprisonment for four war crimes, Finnish public broadcaster Yle reported on August 31.
One of the charges dismissed on appeal concerned a Rusich symbol carved into the cheek of a Ukrainian soldier with a sharp object. The court found that the wound was superficial, did not bleed, and did not cause sufficiently severe physical or psychological suffering to qualify as a war crime under the charge considered.
Torden served as deputy commander of the Russian paramilitary group Rusich. Much of the case focused on a September 5, 2014 ambush against Ukrainian troops from the Aidar Battalion in the Luhansk region.
Rusich fighters took part in the attack alongside the Batman Battalion and other Russian-backed formations, using a Ukrainian flag during the ambush. Twenty-two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and four were wounded.
According to Yle, the appeals court found that Torden fired a light machine gun at Ukrainian troops and was guilty of a war crime. However, judges said there was insufficient evidence to prove that he or two other Rusich members personally shot wounded Ukrainian soldiers.
The court also ruled that Torden did not bear command responsibility for the shootings, although it found him partially responsible for the deaths and injuries because of his role in the attack.
Other convictions were upheld. The court found that Torden photographed a Rusich commander posing beside the severely burned body of a dead Ukrainian soldier and later distributed the image on social media.
He was also convicted over online statements presenting it as Rusich policy not to take prisoners and to show no mercy.
In setting the 12.5-year sentence, the court considered Torden’s role as Rusich deputy commander, his participation in the deadly ambush, and the use of material from the attack for propaganda. He was also ordered to compensate wounded Ukrainian soldiers and relatives of those killed.
The Helsinki District Court had sentenced Torden to life imprisonment in March 2025. He appealed the verdict, seeking dismissal of the charges or a reduced sentence.
Torden was detained in Finland in 2023. Ukraine later requested his extradition, but Finland’s Supreme Court rejected the request, citing concerns over prison conditions in Ukraine. Rusich has fought alongside Russian forces in Ukraine and has been sanctioned internationally. Torden is also under European Union and US sanctions.
In a separate case, Ukrainian paratrooper Andrii from the 79th Air Assault Brigade told UNITED24 Media that a Russian surgeon burned the words “Glory to Russia” into his stomach with a medical cautery tool while he was held in Russian captivity. Andrii spent more than 14 months in captivity before returning to Ukraine in a May 2025 prisoner exchange.
Discuss this article:
-9a7b3a98ed5c506e0b77a6663f5727c5.png)
-bd8abf028a19131a5f7fe6eeb8e0828a.png "Turkish Coast Guard vessel approaches the grounded Russian cargo ship OMSKIY-107 off the coast of Istanbul’s Şile district. (Source: Turkish Demirören News Agency)")
-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
