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Finnish court orders release of detained Russian, turns down Ukrainian deportation request

Earlier, Voislav Torden’s lawyer said that his client’s life would be in danger if Kiev’s extradition request were to be granted

STOCKHOLM, December 8. /TASS/. Finland's Supreme Court has ordered the immediate release of 36-year-old Russian national Voislav Torden, formerly known as Yan Petrovsky, who was detained earlier at Kiev's request, as it does not agree that he should be extradited to Ukraine, the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper reported.

According to the court ruling, there are no grounds for Torden's further detention.

Earlier, the man’s lawyer, Heikki Lampela, said that his client’s life would be in danger if Kiev’s extradition request were to be granted.

Torden, born in 1987, formerly known as Yan Petrovsky, is a Russian citizen. He has been named in the lists of individuals sanctioned by both the European Union and the United States (US Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control [OFAC]). The Ukrainian side is seeking Torden’s extradition on charges stemming from crimes allegedly committed in Donbass in 2014-2015. The Russian was detained at Helsinki airport on July 20; on the following day a Finnish court ordered his detention for violating the country’s immigration laws. On August 28, Torden was visited by Russian consular staff.

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