“The court in Poltava will review the verdict of a volunteer from Finland for the road accident that led to the death of an SBU officer. Both parties appealed.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Volunteer from Finland Mustonen Roope Mikael Facebook / Bar association “Partnery”, hromadske Source: Finnish publication Helsingin Sanomat, hromadske
Details: The Finnish publication writes that 33-year-old Mustonen Roope Mikael from Helsinki, who is referred to by the name Antti in the Finnish media, worked as a security guard in the subway, and spent the rest of his salary on helping Ukraine. Since 2022, he began traveling to Ukraine, transporting both military equipment and items for civilians.
Advertising:
In May 2025, the Finn drove from Kharkiv to Kyiv in his Volkswagen Transporter minibus and brought, among other things, a hospital chair, a travel bed and equipment for training drone operators.
A black Toyota SUV stood on the side of the road Antti was driving on, and partly on the roadway, writes HS. The emergency lights were on, but the warning triangle was apparently not displayed.
The driver of the car was standing on the road, examining the left wheel. Antti, they say, noticed the car, but not the driver, so he hit him with the right edge of the van before he had time to brake. Later, the police established that he was driving at a speed of 100-150 km/h. Finn administered first aid to the victim.
The publication reports that the victim is an officer of the Security Service of Ukraine, and his wife is Nataliya Novikova, head of the Commercial Court in the Kharkiv region. At night, the victim died in the hospital.
Finn was detained and taken to the station for questioning, after which he was said to have slept there, curled up in the corner of the interrogation room. He was then taken into custody pending investigation. The lawyer believes that Antti was not released on bail, because “the widow had power.”
In October, a court was held, which, although it recognized that Antti was not drunk, did not use the phone and caused the accident unintentionally, sentenced the Finn to six years in prison in Poltava.
In addition, the convict must now pay each of the deceased’s two children 470 euros each month until they come of age. The wife was awarded approximately 20,000 euros in compensation, the text of the decision in the court register confirms.
Both sides – the prosecution and the defense – filed an appeal. The hearing was scheduled for today, January 27. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland only said that it is aware of Antti’s trial and is trying to provide him with consular assistance.
Later it became known that the Court of Appeal of the city of Poltava considered the appeal against the verdict of the Finnish volunteer. The case was decided to be reconsidered.
The lawyer of the Finn, Mykhailo Tarasenko, said that he was “surprised” by the court’s decision, as was his client: he, they say, was surprised “not in a good way”, because he expected that he would be transferred to Finland. Now he has to wait for the further course of the court process in Ukraine.