Anastasia Pechenyuk13:59, 08/25/233 min.454

Ukraine demands the extradition of a 36-year-old criminal.

In Finland, one of the leaders of the neo-Nazi Russian group “Rusich” Yan Petrovskyi (call sign “Slavyan”) has been detained, local publications Yle and MTV Uutiset report.

The Russian is suspected of participating in the activities of a terrorist group and otherwise supporting a terrorist group. It is assumed that he is involved in terrorist crimes committed in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine from June 2014 to August 2015. 

According to the court, Ukraine has already turned to Finland with a request to extradite the man.

Currently, the police demand to continue keeping the man in custody “in order to facilitate the extradition investigation and the extradition of the offender”, the issue will be considered by the court.

The Russian himself, who fought against Ukraine, denies his guilt in terrorist crimes committed in our country. 

The “Rusych” group, which the Ukrainian authorities call a branch of the “Wagner” PMC, claims on social networks that Petrovsky was detained in Finland more than a month ago – on July 20, and now he was transferred from the migrant detention center to prison. 

The reasons for their commander’s trip to another country in “Rusich” are not known, but it is assumed that he accompanied his wife.

Who is Yan Petrovskyi? 

Jan Petrovsky was born in St. Petersburg in 1987, but in his youth he lived for many years in Norway, where he was known for his connections in far-right circles. 

In particular, he participated in the Norwegian anti-migrant group “Soldiers of Odin”. In addition, Petrovsky participated in the war in Syria (as part of a group that fought on the side of President Bashar Assad’s regime). In 2016 , Norway deported a man to Russia due to threats to its security. 

Currently, Jan Petrovsky, who was arrested in Finland, is under the sanctions of the EU, USA, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Ukraine. 

He was also banned from entering Finland. 

The EU claims that Petrovskyi is responsible for actions that threaten the sovereignty and independence, as well as the security of Ukraine. According to the US Treasury Department, since 2022, Petrovsky has held the position of commander of the Russian neo-Nazi paramilitary group “Rusich”, which has ties to the Russian PMV “Wagner”. “Rusych” has been participating in the war against Ukraine since 2014 (including after the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation in 2022).

(C)UNIAN 2023