August 30, 2023

Wanted in Ukraine, Arrested in Finland


Wanted in Ukraine, Arrested in Finland
Yan Petrovsky, a far-right militant accused of war crimes in Donbas between 2014-2015. Republic_mag, Twitter

On August 25, the neo-Nazi paramilitary group "Rusich" announced that one of its leaders, Yan Petrovsky, was detained at Helsinki airport. Petrovsky is accused of committing war crimes in eastern Ukraine between 2014 and 2015 and has an outstanding arrest warrant from Ukrainian authorities.

Petrovsky, also known as both Voislav Troden and "Slavyan," moved from St. Petersburg to Norway at 16. There, he worked in a tattoo shop run by far-right groups, leading him to become involved with Norwegian and Russian ultranationalists. On a trip to Russia, he joined Rusich and headed to Donbas in 2014. While in Ukraine, he posed for pictures with the dead bodies of Ukrainian soldiers behind him. These images went viral, leading Norwegian authorities to deport him and Ukraine to order his extradition. Petrovsky has denied allegations of war crimes and said he "simply participated in hostilities" in Ukraine.

The ultra-nationalist militant was set to board a plane to Nice, France, when Finnish immigration authorities detained him. Despite holding a residency permit in Finland, "Slavyan" is on EU and US sanctions lists for his involvement with Rusich and for communications with the Wagner Group. Petrovsky is currently at a Finnish detention center, awaiting the decision on his extradition to Ukraine.

 

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