Russian paramilitary sentenced to life in Finland

Russian far-right paramilitary Yan Petrovsky was sentenced to life in prison Friday by the Helsinki District Court in Finland for four war crimes in Ukraine, according to public broadcaster, Yle.

The court ruled that Petrovsky, also known as Voislav Torden, an alleged member of Rusich, a neo-Nazi unit of the Wagner group, participated in killing a soldier and sharing degrading images of the victim. He also declared online that Rusich would show no mercy.

Prosecutors alleged that under his command, the extremist group massacred 22 Ukrainian soldiers and severely wounded four others on Sept. 5, 2014.

Petrovsky was initially detained in July at the Helsinki Airport on separate terrorism charges following a request from Ukraine. He was caught trying to leave on a flight to France using a fake passport.

Kyiv claims he belonged to pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine as a member of Rusich in 2014 - 2015.

He was on an EU sanctions list and banned from entering Finland, but applied for asylum in Finland under the alias Voislav Torden.

Petrovsky is believed to have crossed into Finland in 2022 and 2023, under false documents presenting him as Voislav Torden, according to Yle.

The trial took place in Finland after the Finnish Supreme Court ruled against Torden's extradition to Ukraine, citing poor prison conditions and concerns over an unfair trial.