In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Russian-Norwegian mercenary, Yan Petrovsky AKA Voislav Torden AKA "Slavyan". He's best-known as the co-founder of the Rusich Group,for committing war crimes in Ukraine, and for trying to start a normal life after in Northern Europe.
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Petrovsky lived his childhood in St. Petersburg, but moved to Norway in 2004 when his mother married a Norwegian. After graduating from university, he started working at the "True Metal Tattoo" tattoo parlor, a shop famous for its connections to many neo-Nazi organizations.
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In 2010, the tattoo parlor was raided by the police. During the search, they found forged documents and weapons that belonged to another Russian neo-Nazi, Viacheslav Datsik. Petrovsky spent one month in custody, after which he was released due to lack of evidence.
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In 2011, he met another notorious neo-Nazi, Alexey Milchakov, at a paramilitary training camp of the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM). RIM has trained far-right militias around Europe and it's designed as a terrorist group by both Canada and the US:
In Jun 2014, Petrovsky and Milchakov found the Rusich Group, a neo-Nazi paramilitary group, which was quickly sent to fight against the Ukrainian army in Donbas, Ukraine.
The group took part in the ambush of the Ukrainian Aidar Battalion in Sep 2014. Rusich later published a video of Aidar's leader, Ivan Issyk. Rusich members had carved a neo-Nazi symbol kolovrat to his cheek. Few days later, he was interviewed by pro-Russian propagandist...
6/20
..Graham Phillips. At this point, Issyk's body was covered in burns & he clearly violated journalistic ethics by "interviewing" a seriously wounded prisoner. Issyk was later abducted from the hospital & murdered, after which his organs were cut off and shuffled in his body.
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In 2015, Rusich left the Donbas and Petrovsky returned to Norway. In a video recorded in the same year, both Milchakov and Petrovsky admit to killing Ukrainian prisoners. He allegedly killed 6 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured in the battle near Luhansk in 2014.
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In 2016, he was arrested at the home of a leading Nordic Resistance Movement (also trained by the Russian Imperial Movement) member Ronny Bårdsen in Norway for violating immigration laws and was deported. Norwegian authorities called him a "threat to the national security".
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He returned to Russia, where he trained Belarusian children combat skills, including proficiency in knife-fighting, tactics, hand-to-hand combat, and shooting.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Petrovsky also later took part in some traditional "viking ritual".
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During 2016,ICC completed their preliminary investigation and opened a criminal case against Milchakov & Petrovsky for their war crimes and "participation in terrorist organization" on Ukrainian soil. In 2022, they were also sanctioned by the US for their "special cruelty".
11/20
Ukrainian Myrotvorets has also suggested that Petrovsky was fighting in Syria in 2017. Based on this report, he fought under a Russian unit that was led by a Norwegian.
He allegedly fought again in Ukraine in 2022, this time in the ranks of PMC Wagner.
12/20
On 20 Jul 2023, he was arrested by the Finnish police in the Helsinki-Vantaa airport, shortly before their flight to Nice, France. Earlier, Finnish authorities had given Petrovsky a residence permit under his new name, Voislav Torden. His wife had been accepted to study...
13/20
..in a Finnish polytechnic university. This also allowed Yan & their three kids to get the permit for one year. According to Petrovsky's lawyer, he wanted his children to "obtain Nordic education", and they were going to visit their relatives in France before settling down.
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Wagner-connected TG channel "Grey Zone" has complained about the arrest of Petrovsky, and they claimed that he was "abducted by the NATO special forces". They also organized a crowdfunding effort for Petrovsky's legal fund,which was accompanied with a message from his wife.
15/20
Ironically, the group that's responsible for torture, abductions and other war crimes and has called for the genocide of Ukrainian people, are suddenly interested in international law.
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I have previously written about the "Kremlin kids", the wealthy children who live a glamorous life in Europe and in the US while their parents threaten these countries with nuclear weapons on Russian media:
It seems Petrovsky and his wife are no exceptions in this sense: the former committed war crimes and killed Ukrainians en masse, and now they want the "Nordic education" for themselves and for their children. He even plans to apply for asylum in Finland.
18/20
These people want the "best" of both worlds - they want to keep their xenophobic, "traditional" Russkiy Mir world view, but they also want the culture and comfort of the West.
And at the moment, it seems that they're getting it.
In today’s Vatnik Soup and the “Degenerate Russia” series, I’ll show you the brutal reality of Russian war crimes, in particular the horrific tortures and sexual abuses of children, women and men.
Buckle up, this one is not for the faint-hearted.
1/24
For over a decade now and as part of their “firehose of falsehood” propaganda strategy, Russia has been spreading false narratives targeted at right-wing/conservative audiences, portraying russia as a bastion of Christian, traditional,family values.
In the previous “degenerate Russia” series we discussed Russia’s insanely high divorce rates, rampant domestic violence, high murder rates, thriving neo-Nazi culture, corruption of the Orthodox Church, and their massive demographic problem:
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explore how Russia is working with Iran, and how the recent Israel–US strikes on Iran could affect the war in Ukraine. Iran has been one of Russia’s key allies in their genocidal war, but in reality the partnership is deeply one-sided.
1/21
Historically, Russia/USSR has been involved in numerous wars in the Middle East, invading Afghanistan for nearly a decade and desperately trying to keep Syria’s authoritarian leader, al-Assad, in power before his eventual downfall.
2/21
While initially supportive of Israel, the Soviet Union quickly pivoted to backing its enemies, fueling antisemitism, terrorism, and chaos in an already tense region. At times, this meant near-open war, like when Soviet Air Force MiG-21s were shot down by Israel over Egypt.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce a Latvian politician and former MEP, Tatjana Ždanoka. She’s best-known for her history in the Communist Party of Latvia, for her pro-Russian politics in the country, and her connections to Russian intelligence.
1/22
Based on Ždanoka’s speeches and social media posts, she has a deep hatred towards the people of Latvia. The reason for this can only be speculated, but part of it could be due to her paternal family being killed by the Latvian Auxiliary Police,…
2/22
…a paramilitary force supported by the Nazis, during the early 1940s. Ždanoka became politically active in the late 80s. She was one of the leaders of Interfront, a political party that supported Latvia remaining part of the USSR.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce the main themes of Russian disinformation on TikTok. Each day, there are thousands of new videos promoting pro-Kremlin narratives and propaganda.
It’s worth noting that Russians can only access European TikTok via VPN.
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There is currently a massive TikTok campaign aimed at promoting a positive image of Russia. The videos typically feature relatively attractive young women and focus on themes of nationalism and cultural heritage.
2/10
Ironically, many of these videos from Moscow or St. Petersburg are deceptively edited to portray Ukraine in a false light — claiming there is no war and that international aid is being funneled to corrupt elites.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about Finland and how pro-Kremlin propagandists have become more active in the Finnish political space since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For the first time since 2022, they’ve gained some political power in Finland.
1/16
Russia’s political strategy in countries with Russian-speaking minorities (such as Finland and the Baltics) is typically quite similar: it seeks to rally these minorities around issues like language and minority rights, and then frames the situation as oppression.
2/16
At the same time, Russian speakers are extremely wary and skeptical of local media, and instead tend to follow Russian domestic outlets like Russia-1 and NTV, thereby reinforcing an almost impenetrable information bubble.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the Ukrainian SBU’s “Spiderweb” operation and the main disinformation narrative vatniks have been spreading during the afterfall. While domestic Russian media stays silent, the vatniks and Russian milbloggers have been extremely loud.
1/20
This operation was probably the most impactful strike since the drowning of the Moskva, massively reducing Russia’s capability to bomb Ukrainian cities (or anyone else’s). It involved smuggling 117 FPV drones hidden in trucks into Russia. Once near airbases,…
2/20
…the roofs opened remotely, launching drones in synchronized waves to strike targets up to 4,000 km away. The mission took 18 months to plan. The unsuspecting Russian truck drivers who transported them had no idea they were delivering weapons deep behind their own lines.