Russian man arrested at Vaalimaa border for suspected war crimes linked to Ukraine

In July last year, the Vaalimaa border station saw an average of 1,500 people crossing daily. On the 19th of the month, a 36-year-old Russian man approached the border check. His documents were in order, he held a residence permit, and he was allowed to proceed to Finland. However, the border guard suspected something was amiss and began a thorough background check on the man, who had initially crossed the border under the name Voislav Torden. It turned out that he was actually Jan Igorevitsh Petrovski, who was subject to a prohibition on entry across the entire Schengen area.

The information was relayed, leading to Petrovski’s arrest, detention, and investigation for war crimes. The Central Criminal Police (KRP) suspects him of being involved in war crimes in Eastern Ukraine between 2014 and 2015, which he has denied.

Petrovski had informed border officials that he was on his way to catch a flight to Nice from Helsinki-Vantaa the following day, July 20. According to Lt. Antti Leskelä, head of the maritime border guard investigation unit, he received a call on the same day regarding a potential entry ban issue at the airport.

At the departure gate, Petrovski was located, and through facial recognition, it was confirmed he was indeed Petrovski. Initially, the investigation centered around a suspected violation of the entry ban, but additional information surfaced, revealing that he was also on the EU sanctions list for allegedly leading a Russian paramilitary group, Rusitš, which has been associated with the Wagner mercenary group in Ukraine.

This portrayed a much larger context behind the crime investigation, indicating possible war crime aspects. The information was passed on to the KRP, and in December, the deputy state prosecutor decided to initiate a preliminary investigation into the suspected crimes, which is still ongoing.