Lured by the Ukrainian flag, he carved symbols on his cheek: Finland reveals details of the charges against the fighter Torden.

She shared this during her closing statement in court, reports Yle.

In total, Torden is charged with five war crimes. Prosecutor Lilia Liminoya claims that the evidence proves his guilt on all counts and is demanding a life sentence for him.

According to her, in September 2014, when he was the deputy commander of the "Rusich" group, his fighters ambushed a Ukrainian convoy in eastern Ukraine.

Liminoya states that Russian militants raised the Ukrainian flag, tricking the convoy into stopping at a checkpoint. After that, they opened fire on Ukrainian soldiers and launched a thermobaric missile.

Among the 26 soldiers in the convoy, 22 were killed—some of them executed. According to the investigation, Torden allowed his fighters to carve the group's symbol on the cheek of a wounded Ukrainian soldier and took a photo with the body of a slain Ukrainian fighter, posting the image online.

In court, four Ukrainian soldiers who survived the ambush, as well as one witness, testified via video link. They spoke about the killing of the wounded and identified Torden as one of those involved.

The publication Helsingin Sanomat also reported the defense's position. They argued that he was the deputy commander of "Rusich" and went to eastern Ukraine because he heard about the alleged "persecution" of the Russian-speaking population.

Torden was supposedly supposed to focus on humanitarian aid and create propaganda-recruitment videos. Furthermore, the ambush on the Ukrainian soldiers was allegedly carried out not by his group, but by the "Zarya" battalion. The accused claimed that he was talking to other militants when he heard an explosion near the checkpoint but did not shoot at the Ukrainian soldiers.

His lawyers demanded his release, but the court rejected this request. He will remain in custody until the verdict is announced—this will happen on March 7.

More on the Torden case

Voislav Torden, previously known as Yan Petrovsky, had been living in Norway since 2004, where he actively participated in the activities of far-right organizations in Norway and Sweden. From 2014 to 2015, he, according to Ukrainian investigators, fought on Ukrainian territory. In Ukraine, Petrovsky was charged under part 1 of article 258-3 of the Criminal Code. Due to his evasion, he was placed on the wanted list.

The NABU noted that "Rusich" has connections with the private military company "Wagner" and may operate as its subdivision. In 2015, mercenaries from the "Rusich" group were accused of atrocities against killed and captured Ukrainian soldiers. Petrovsky is also under sanctions from the EU and USA.

It is worth mentioning that the man was arrested in Finland on July 20, 2023 at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport when he was about to fly to Nice, France. He presented Finnish border guards with a Russian passport and a residence permit issued by Finland in the name of Voislav Torden. However, the border guards suspected that he was Petrovsky, who is banned from entering the entire Schengen area.

Ukraine requested Finland to extradite Petrovsky. However, the Supreme Court of Finland refused, citing "inadequate conditions" in Ukrainian prisons.

By court order, Finnish border guards took Petrovsky-Torden from prison, but almost immediately took him into custody under the immigration law.