Yan Petrovsky, one of the leaders of the Rusich paramilitary group and who is under EU and US sanctions for participating in the war against Ukraine, has been arrested in Finland.
MTV: The leader of the militia linked to Wagner has been captured in Finland AOP Wagner Illustration. Published 25.08.2023 09:18 (Updated 2 hours ago)
One of the leaders of the Russian Rusich militia has been captured in Finland. The man is in the custody of authorities.
Captured in Finland, Jan Igorovits Petrovski is under EU and US sanctions.
According to the EU sanctions list, the man has acted as a leader and commander of the Rusich forces. According to the sanctions list, the force has links to the Wagner mercenary army and is even believed to have possibly been part of the Wagner forces.
According to the EU sanctions, Petrovsky is responsible for acts that threaten the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine and the security of the country.
The Rusich forces have fought on the Russian side in Ukraine. The man detained by the Finnish authorities is suspected of terrorist offences committed between at least June 2014 and August 2015 in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
According to the US Treasury Department, Petrovski has served as commander of the Rusich forces since 2022. Previously, the top man was Alexei Miltsakov, also under sanctions.
According to US officials, Petrovsky took over primary responsibility for the force after Miltsakov was injured in fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in 2022.
Norway expelled as a security threat
Petrovsky’s detention will be heard this afternoon by the District Court of Itä-Uusimaa.
According to information provided by the KRP to the district court, the police are demanding that the man’s detention be extended “in order to facilitate the extradition investigation and the extradition of the offender”. Ukraine has requested the man’s extradition.
Kimmo Huhta-aho, the KRP criminal inspector in charge of the case at the district court, did not want to comment on the matter to MTV News during Friday morning.
The Russian man arrested in Finland denies having committed the terrorist offences he is suspected of in Ukraine, his legal counsel told STT.
Jan Petrovski was born in the Soviet Union, but lived in Norway for years during his youth. He has received a lot of publicity in Norway because of his extreme right-wing links.
Petrovski has been involved in activities such as the Norwegian Soldiers of Odin. According to Norwegian broadcaster NRK, Petrovski has also been involved in the war in Syria as part of a far-right group fighting on the side of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Norway deported the man to Russia in 2016 because he was considered a security threat.
In 2017, the man gave an interview to the Russian news website Meduza, whose editor is now in exile in Riga, Latvia.
In the article, he describes himself as a Russian nationalist and patriot. He says he met Alexei Miltsakov in 2011 and joined the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014. He admits that he was one of the founders of the Rusich forces.
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