The former commander of the Wagner Group of Russian mercenaries requested asylum in Norway after leaving the group, writes the BBC.
On Friday, the 13th of January, Andrey Medvedev crossed the Russian-Norwegian border, where he was detained by Norwegian border guards. He requested asylum in Norway and is currently in Oslo. Brynjulf Risnes, the lawyer assigned to him, informed that the mercenary is accused of crossing the border illegally.
The Norwegian border guard has confirmed that a Russian national who crossed the border has been detained, but did not provide further comments. Russian human rights group Gulag confirmed that Medvedev had crossed the border. This is the first known case of one of Wagner’s mercenaries fleeing to the west.
Medvedev joined Wagner’s Group in July 2022 and signed a contract for four months. Before that, he served in the Russian army and then spent a year in prison. Having reached the war zone, Medvedev was appointed commander.
After he was informed in November that the contract would be extended indefinitely, Medvedev fled Ukraine and lived secretly in Russia for two months before crossing the border.
According to the lawyer, Medvedev witnessed a series of war crimes in Ukraine, including the execution of deserters. He added that Medvedev is believed to have brought with him evidence of war crimes and will hand it over to investigators.
The owner of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has confirmed that Medvedev is a former fighter of the group but stated that he has Norwegian citizenship and that he led a battalion of Scandinavian soldiers.
British officials believe that Wagner’s Group makes up about 10 percent of the Russian forces in Ukraine. The group has attracted a large number of prisoners who have been promised freedom in exchange for six months of service in Ukraine. Before the invasion of Ukraine, the group was mainly made up of experienced ex-army soldiers, including from elite units, but now Prigozhin has traded quality for quantity.
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