Former Wagner commander seeks asylum in Norway after fleeing Russia via the Arctic
Andrei Medvedev, who joined Wagner on July 6, 2022 on a four-month contract, mentioned in a video posted by the Gulagu.web rights group that he had crossed the northern Arctic border into Norway earlier than being detained by Norwegian police.
Medvedev, an orphan who joined the Russian military and served time in jail earlier than shifting on to Wagner, mentioned he had slipped away from the group after witnessing the killing of captured deserters from Wagner.
“I’m afraid of dying in agony,” Medvedev instructed Vladimir Osechkin, founding father of the Gulagu.web rights group, which mentioned it had helped Medvedev depart Russia after he approached the group in concern for his life.
He mentioned he crossed the snowy border, climbing via barbed-wire fences and evading a border patrol with canines, and heard guards firing pictures as he ran via a forest and over skinny and breaking ice into Norway.
Native Norwegian police mentioned a overseas citizen had been arrested on the night time of Thursday to Friday after illegally crossing the Russian-Norwegian frontier, north of the Arctic Circle, and was looking for asylum.
His Norwegian lawyer mentioned Medvedev was now within the “Oslo space” however didn’t give particulars. “What’s vital for him (Medvedev) is that immigration authorities make clear his standing as quickly as doable,” lawyer Brynjulf Risnes instructed Reuters.
Kripos, the Norwegian nationwide legal police service which has accountability for investigating warfare crimes, mentioned on Tuesday it wished to query Medvedev.
“He has himself defined that he was part of the Wagner group and it’s fascinating for Kripos to have details about this era,” Kripos mentioned in a press release.
“Medvedev has a standing as a witness.”
Risnes mentioned Medvedev had not but spoken with the Norwegian safety police, PST, and no settlement for an interview had been reached. “I’m positive that can be a query sooner or later,” mentioned Risnes, who declined to say the place Medvedev fought in Ukraine.
“He says he has taken half in battle, which he says had been clear battle conditions …, and that he has not been involved with civilians,” mentioned Risnes.
Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, a detailed ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, mentioned Medvedev had labored in a Norwegian unit of Wagner and had “mistreated prisoners.”
“Watch out, he’s very harmful,” Prigozhin mentioned in a press release launched by his spokeswoman. He didn’t deal with the claims of killings or mistreatment of prisoners within the assertion.
In interviews with Gulagu, Medvedev mentioned he grew disaffected after his contract was repeatedly prolonged by Wagner with out his consent. He mentioned he had witnessed the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners who had been delivered to the entrance by Wagner.
Medvedev mentioned losses had been very excessive after Wagner started sending giant numbers of prisoners to the Ukrainian entrance within the second half of 2022. Wagner’s inside safety service handed out excessive punishment, Medvedev mentioned.
He mentioned a person who was proven in November being executed with a sledgehammer had been a part of his unit.
The Wagner assertion didn’t deal with Medvedev’s accounts of punishment and of battlefield losses, or that his contract was repeatedly prolonged.
Prigozhin has mentioned Wagner is an efficient preventing drive as a result of it had in depth battlefield expertise, is nicely provided, has a meritocratic command system by which all can contribute, and “probably the most extreme self-discipline.”
Russia despatched tens of 1000’s of armed forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it calls a “particular navy operation” to “denazify” its neighbor and defend Russian safety.
Reporting by Man Faulconbridge in Moscow and Gwladys Fouche in Oslo.
