Former commander in Russian mercenary group flees to Norway, seeks asylum

The former commander of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group fighting in Ukraine says he has fled to Norway and sought asylum in fear for his life after witnessing the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners brought to the front line.

Andrei Medvedev, who joined the group on July 6, 2022, on a four-month contract, said in a video posted by the rights group Gulagu.net that he had crossed the border into Norway before being detained by Norwegian police.

Medvedev, an orphan who joined the Russian army and was imprisoned before joining Wagner, said he fled the group after witnessing the killing of deserters captured by Wagner.

“I’m afraid to die in agony,” Medvedev told Vladimir Osechkin, founder of the rights group Gulagu.net, who said it had helped Medvedev leave Russia after he approached the group in fear for his life.

He said he crossed the border, climbing over the barbed-wire fence and evading the border patrol with dogs, and heard guards firing shots when he ran through the forest and through the thin and broken ice to Norway.

Norwegian police said a foreign national was arrested overnight Thursday into Friday after illegally crossing the Russian-Norwegian border in the Arctic and seeking asylum.

Norwegian lawyers said Medvedev was currently in the “Oslo area,” but did not provide details.

“That’s important for [Medvedev] is that the immigration authorities clarify their status as soon as possible,” lawyer Brynjulf ​​Risnes told Reuters.

Medvedev has not talked to the Norwegian security police and there is no agreement for an interview, Risnes said.

“I’m sure it will be a question at some point,” said Risnes, who declined to say where Medvedev is fighting in Ukraine.

“He said he was involved in a war, which he said was a clear war situation … and he hadn’t been in contact with civilians,” Risnes said.

Chief Wagner claims asylum seekers are ‘dangerous’

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who founded Wagner, said that Medvedev had worked for Wagner’s unit in Norway but “mistreated prisoners”.

“Be careful, he is very dangerous,” Prigozhin said in a statement released by a spokesman. Prigozhin did not address allegations of murder or mistreatment of prisoners in the statement.

In an interview with Gulagu, Medvedev said he was unhappy after the contract was repeatedly extended by Wagner without his consent. He said he had witnessed the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners brought to the front by Wagner.

Medvedev said the losses were very high after Wagner began to send a large number of prisoners to the front in the second half of 2022. Wagner’s internal security service handed down severe punishment, Medvedev said.

He said a man shown in November being executed with a hammer had been part of the unit.

Wagner’s statement did not discuss Medvedev’s convictions and losses on the battlefield, or his repeated contract renewals.

Prigozhin said the group was an effective fighting force because it had extensive battlefield experience, was well supplied, had a meritocratic command system in which everyone could contribute, and “the most severe discipline.”