Moscow: Moscow assumes that the Finnish court's decision regarding Russian citizen Vojislav Torden (Jan Petrovsky) is not final and will be appealed, the Russian Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti on Sunday. On March 14, the Helsinki District Court sentenced Torden to life imprisonment for alleged involvement in four war crimes in Ukraine in 2014.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the ministry said, "We assume that this court decision is not final and will be appealed in the established manner in the court of the next instance." The ministry noted that Torden's lawyers point to "inconsistency of the evidence collected against him" and are convinced of his innocence.

The prosecutor sought a life sentence for Torden on charges of five war crimes that he allegedly committed in Ukraine while he served as deputy commander of the Rusich sabotage and assault reconnaissance group, which took part in the conflict in Donbas in 2014-2015 on the side of Donetsk and Lugansk republic forces. The prosecutor accused the unit of killing 22 Ukrainian soldiers and wounding four on September 5, 2014. Torden has denied the charges.

Torden was detained in Finland in July 2023 and placed in custody over suspected violations of immigration rules. In December 2023, Finland's Supreme Court rejected Ukraine's request for Torden's extradition and ordered his immediate release. Shortly after being released from prison, Torden was detained by Finnish border guards and placed under war crimes investigation by Finland's National Bureau of Investigation.