Russian mercenary sentenced to life by Finnish court for war crimes in Ukraine

Voislav Torden, of Russian far-right group Rusich, is found guilty of charges relating to an ambush which killed 22.

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

The charges relate to an ambush and firefight that occurred in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, which killed 22 Ukrainian soldiers and injured four others. Torden denies the allegations.

It marks the first time charges have been brought 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, which operated in the eastern Donbas region as part of pro-Russian separatist fighting against Ukraine. Rusich is a subunit of the Wagner group.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy83g975vyko

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