A BBC report says that a former commander with the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group has claimed asylum in Norway. Twenty-six-year-old Andrey Medvedev is currently in Oslo after being detained by border guards following his intrusion last Friday. He is facing charges of illegal entry to Norway, his lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told the BBC.
This is reportedly the first such instance of a soldier from the group defecting to the West.
Risnes informed the publication that he deserted the mercenary group after witnessing war crimes in Ukraine.
His lawyer further informed that his client saw “deserters being executed” by the Wagner Group’s internal security service, besides the war crimes.
“In short he felt betrayed and wanted to leave as soon as possible,” Risnes said.
Medvedev is also believed to have taken some evidence of war crimes with him to Norway and might share it with investigators probing war crimes.
Tarjei Sirma-Tellefsen, police chief of staff in the Norwegian region of Finnmark, also confirmed the development to BBC, although he refused to divulge more details.
However, his identity was confirmed by the Russian human rights group Gulagu, who helped Medvedev leave Russia.
Gulagu’s founder Vladimir Osechkin told BBC that Medvedev used to be a soldier in the Russian army. He then joined the Wagner group in July 2022 on a four-month contract, but couldn’t bear the war crimes and human rights abuses being committed in Ukraine.
He was in prison between 2017 and 2018. After he joined the outfit, he was put in charge of a Wagner division in Ukraine. He was supplied with around 30-40 troops every week, Osechkin told BBC.
A social media video by Gulagu says that Medvedev fled Ukraine in November after being informed that the group intended to extend his contract indefinitely. He then spent two months underground in Russia and later crossed the border into Norway.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group, laughed off all allegations.
Prigozhin mocked Medvedev in a statement saying he is linked to a non-existent Nordic mercenary unit and that he was a Norwegian citizen.
According to UK officials, Wagner Group makes up about 10 per cent of Russia’s forces in Ukraine. They reportedly played a huge role it taking the town of Soledar in eastern Donbas region last week.
(With inputs from agencies)
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