The Deputy Prosecutor General of Finland has filed charges in the Helsinki District Court against a suspect imprisoned in Finland for five war crimes suspected to have committed in Ukraine in 2014.
The charges are related to the suspect's activities in a unit called Rusitsh, which has fought on the side of the Russian-backed Luhansk separatist region against Ukraine. The suspect is accused of having participated, as the unit's deputy commander, in acts that violate the laws of war, in which he and the unit's soldiers have killed a total of 22 Ukrainian soldiers and seriously wounded four. In addition, the suspect is accused of acts contrary to the laws of war regarding the way of warfare and the treatment of wounded and killed enemy soldiers.
The suspect has denied having committed the crimes.
The charges are dealt with in Finland as international crimes according to Finnish law. The suspect cannot be extradited to Ukraine, and Finland's obligation to use its criminal jurisdiction takes precedence even over the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Two prosecutors specializing in war crimes and international crimes prosecute the charges in the trial.
The District Court of Helsinki determines the date of hearing the case. The trial material becomes public when the proceedings begin, to the extent that the district court does not order otherwise. District Court case number is 706/2024/11203.
For more information, please contact Deputy Prosecutor General Jukka Rappe, [email protected], phone + 358 50 543 1182.
