Finnish Authorities Detain Militant from Russian Neo-Nazi Military Unit

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.

As MTV reports, the detainee is suspected of terrorist crimes committed at least from June 2014 to August 2015 in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts. He currently remains in custody.

Petrovsky has faced EU sanctions as the one responsible for actions that threaten Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence and the country’s security.

The US Treasury Department notes that the suspect has served as commander of the Rusich group since 2022. Before that, it was led by Alexei Milchakov, a neo-Nazi mercenary who is also under sanctions.

US officials claim that Petrovsky assumed primary responsibility for commanding the militants after Milchakov was wounded in battles for Kharkiv in 2022.

The police have requested an extension of the man's detention "in order to facilitate the investigation and extradition of the offender." Ukraine has requested the militant’s extradition.

The Norwegian broadcaster NRK says Petrovsky, who lived in Norway for several years in his youth, also participated 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 Petrovsky to Russia in 2016 because he was considered a security threat.

On August 25, 2023, it was reported that the Latvian State Security Service (SDB) had detained four Latvian citizens on suspicion of acting on the instructions of the Russian secret services.

Earlier, it was reported that three Bulgarian citizens had been detained in the UK on suspicion of espionage for Russia.

On August 4, a Belarusian citizen who spied for the Russian Federation was detained in Poland.