The Finnish court sentences a Russian fighter to life imprisonment for war crimes against Ukrainian soldiers in 2014.
A Russian national was sentenced to life imprisonment in Finland for war crimes committed in Ukraine.
The capital of the District Court of Finland, Helsinki, judged on Friday that Vocislav Torden, then commander of the Russian nationalist paramilitary group of the far right, Rusich, was involved in four different war crimes against Ukrainian soldiers during battles in eastern Ukraine in 2014. A fifth accusation was rejected.
Torden was arrested in the summer of 2023 in Finland, which shared a border of 1,340 kilometers (832 miles) with Russia. The case includes an armed attack on soldiers from a Ukrainian battalion in the Luhansk region.
According to the court, Torden was involved in the murder of a soldier, among others. He would also have taken degrading photos of the deceased, which he then broadcast.
Ukraine is a “key step”
The 38 -year -old defendant rejected the allegations in court, the Finnish broadcaster Yle reported. His lawyer, Heikki Lampela, told Finnish Media that Torden was surprised by the decision and that he would appeal.
This is the first case in which a Finnish court condemned someone for war crimes in Ukraine, Yle reported.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine welcomed the court’s decision as “a key step in the holding of serious violations of the responsible international humanitarian law”.
“Ukraine remains determined to work with partners around the world to ensure that there is no impunity for war criminals,” he said in a statement published on social networks.
Russia criticized the verdict and called the case against its “shameful” and politically motivated citizen.
“The verdict of the Finnish judiciary provokes only deep indignation and indignation. The bias of the district court of Helsinki, who said an openly political sentence to the Russian citizen, is obvious, “the Russian embassy said in Finland in a statement.
