The ruling on Russian mercenaries to life imprisonment by the Finnish Court of War Crime in Ukraine

A Russian citizen was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Finnish court for war crimes in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Voislav Torden, 38, is convicted of a senior member of the Russian right -wing mercenary group, on four charges by a court in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, on Friday, while he was acquitted of a fifth charge.

The accusations relate to an ambush and accuracy that occurred in the Luhansk region in Ukraine, which killed 22 Ukrainian soldiers and wounded four others. Torden denies these allegations.

This is the first time that the charges have been charged and heard in a Finnish court over allegations of war crimes in Ukraine.

Torden, previously known as Yan Petrovsky, was a founding member of Rusich, who was working in the eastern Donbas region as part of the separatist fighter fighting against Russia against Ukraine. Rusich is a sub -unit for the Wagner Group.

On September 5, 2014, Torden led his men as part of an ambush for Ukrainian soldiers by pretending to be Ukrainians, before he fired a unit truck and a unit truck.

The indictment said that there are twenty -one Ukrainian soldiers who were killed and injured.

The court in Helsinki found that there was not enough evidence for the conclusion that Rossic was specifically responsible for the ambush, as there were many other groups concerned.

However, I found that Torden was guilty on all other charges, including that he was responsible for the mercenaries of Rossic present during an ambush, who killed at least one Ukrainian soldier and another injury.

He also found that his men mutilated a wounded soldier by “making the Rossic group code on his face.”

Torden was found to distribute “humiliating” pictures of the soldier and posted on social media that Rusich “will not give Mercy”.

A committee of three judges found him unanimously that he was guilty of the last four charges, as he wrote that the most dangerous killing of a soldier – was “similar to killing due to brutality and cruelty.”

While the court saw that there is not enough evidence to find it in a complaint due to the death of the 21st Ukrainian soldiers, he ordered him to pay compensation to the family of the soldier who found his death responsible for him.

Torden has constantly denied the allegations against him, according to the reports of the public broadcaster in Finland. He intends to challenge the condemnation, according to the national newspaper, Elda Sanat.

Tordin’s lawyer, Hikki Lambla, said the sentence was surprised.

“There was no evidence that he had killed the wounded or issued the matter to do so,” he said, adding that Tordin was “confused by the same extent”.

Torden was arrested at Helsink-Fanta Airport in July 2023 at the request of the Ukrainian government, which sought to deliver it.

This request was rejected by the Supreme Court of Finland because of his fears that he would not receive a fair trial in Ukraine – but he was still able to trial in Helsinki where he was accused of crimes under international law.

Yle stated that similar charges have been tried locally in terms of deeds in countries, including Rwanda and Iraq.

The Office of the Public Prosecutor of Ukraine praised the court’s ruling as a “major teacher” in the perpetrators of “serious violations of international humanitarian law.”

He added in a statement that Ukrainian officials have confirmed that the court had heard the victims and witnesses in Ukraine during the trial, adding that it will continue to work with partners at the international level “to ensure that there is no punishment for war criminals.”