A Finnish court sentenced Russian national Yan Petrovsky to life imprisonment for war crimes in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The ruling found his paramilitary unit responsible for the killing of an injured soldier and other offences. Petrovsky denied the charges and intends to appeal.
A Finnish court sentenced a Russian man to life imprisonment on Friday for war crimes committed in 2014 in eastern Ukraine, where his paramilitary unit was found to have been involved in the killing of an injured soldier.
The trial of Yan Petrovsky, also known as Voislav Torden, was a rare instance of foreign prosecutors addressing war crimes linked to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which Moscow supported before the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Born in 1987, Petrovsky was convicted on four out of five charges related to his activities in Ukraine's Luhansk province, part of the Donbass industrial region.
The court identified him as a member of Rusich, a paramilitary unit linked to the Russian Wagner group. He has been under European Union and U.S. sanctions since 2022.
He was found guilty on four counts, including the actions of his unit that led to the death of a wounded Ukrainian soldier, the mutilation of another, and the taking and publishing of degrading images of deceased soldiers.
"A fixed-term prison sentence was not an adequate punishment," the court stated in its verdict.
Petrovsky was detained in Finland at Ukraine’s request in 2023 while attempting to travel to France using a false identity. Finland’s supreme court later blocked his extradition to Ukraine.
One charge was dismissed, with the court ruling that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Petrovsky’s Rusich unit had organised and carried out an ambush while posing as Ukrainian forces, which resulted in the deaths of 22 Ukrainian soldiers. However, it determined that Rusich fighters had been present.
Petrovsky denied all charges and intends to appeal, his lawyer confirmed.
Dozens of Chinese-made humanoid robots have demonstrated improvements in speed, balance and autonomous navigation after completing a half-marathon ...
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz is open, lifting markets and sending oil lower. Meanwhile the U.S. blockade remains in place as President Donald Tru...
North Korea fired ballistic missiles towards the sea off its eastern coast ...
Construction of U.S. President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project will be allowed to continue after an appeals court gr...
Six people have been killed after a man opened fire in a supermarket in the Ukrai...
Canada and the five Nordic countries have agreed to deepen cooperation in military procurement and other areas, in the latest push by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to build new global alliances.
Finland’s Border Guard says it plans to establish a maritime surveillance centre to help prevent damage to critical undersea infrastructure in the Gulf of Finland, amid heightened concerns over cable and pipeline security in the Baltic Sea.
Finland and Sweden have called for tougher economic measures against Russia, proposing higher import duties, export restrictions, and an European Union ban on Russian energy shipments.
The number of reported hate crimes has risen steadily each year since around 2020 in Finland, according to the Police University College. In 2025, nearly 70% of the crime reports filed were motivated by the victims' ethnic or national background.
The past 24 hours of the Russia-Ukraine war have seen a drastic escalation in both aerial bombardment and frontline losses.
Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping on Friday (17 April) for the first time since the U.S. and Israel killed Iran's ex-Supreme Leader in air strikes, triggering the Middle East conflict, at the end of February. A U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, however, remains in force.
Two Indian-flagged ships were shot at in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, India's Foreign Ministry said, as Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again, less than 24 hours after reopening the 167km long sea passage, which is essential for global trade.
Netflix shares fell sharply on Friday after the streaming group issued a weaker-than-expected outlook and said chairman and co-founder Reed Hastings will step down from the board.
Eight people have died after a helicopter crash in West Kalimantan province, Indonesia. Authorities said contact was lost five minutes after taking off from a plantation area in Melawi.
North Korea fired ballistic missiles towards the sea off its eastern coast on Sunday (19 April), accelerating its weapons tests amid heightened regional tensions linked to the Iran war and renewed diplomatic signals toward the United States and South Korea.
Construction of U.S. President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project will be allowed to continue after an appeals court granted an administrative stay, temporarily blocking a lower court order that had halted parts of the work.
European countries should expand the role of natural gas in their energy systems to reduce the risk of supply shocks caused by international crises, an energy industry chief has said.
Six people have been killed after a man opened fire in a supermarket in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Saturday (18 April). Ukraine's Security Service said it was investigating the incident as a "terrorist act."
Bulgaria heads to the polls on Sunday (19 April) for its eighth election in five years, amid mounting public frustration over corruption scandals and repeated government collapses.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment