On Friday, the news came that a person had been arrested in Pasvik, suspected of having illegally crossed the border between Norway and Russia.
The man is Russian Andrej Medvedev, former team leader in the private military company Wagner Group.
This is confirmed by Medvedev’s lawyer, Jens Bernhard Herstad, to VG on Sunday.
He says that Medvedev has applied for asylum in Norway, and that the application is being processed in the usual way.
– According to the conditions, he is fine, says Herstad.
The lawyer does not wish to comment further on the matter.
Medvedev will now be in an asylum reception center in Oslo.
This is revealed in an interview Medvedev did with the human rights organization Gulagu.net.
Medvedev was arrested by the Norwegian Armed Forces at the Norwegian-Russian border in Pasvik in Finnmark. The picture is from October 2019. Photo: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters.
Departs
Medvedev says that he was a team leader in a squad of around 8-10 mercenaries who fought in Ukraine.
His rank is not known, but in the Russian regular army such a squad is typically led by corporals or sergeants.
According to Gulagu.net, Medvedev has been under a four-month contract in the Wagner group since July 6 last summer.
When it expired, he left the group and the warfare in Ukraine. Since then he has been on the run.
– My former employers in the private military company Wagner were after me. I was warned that I could be killed, says Medvedev in the interview.
Medvedev is said to have contacted the human rights organization and asked for help to get away from the Wagner group.
He feared reprisals and potentially being killed by his own.
It is said to have happened to several who have refused to fight at the front in the war against Ukraine.
Told about the escape
In the interview, he tells in detail about his flight across the border to Norway.
– I went through the forest, managed to get over two high fences (on the Russian side, editor’s note), he says.
Medvedev says he heard dogs barking.
– Then I spotted light from flashlights, maybe 150 meters away and they were rapidly approaching the place where I was standing. I turned and started running in the other direction, parallel to the forest, he continues.
Russian border guards sent dogs after him. They also allegedly shot at him, he claims in the interview with gulagu.net.
– The bullets passed right next to me. I threw the phone away into the forest, then I started running across the ice in the direction of the lights from some houses on the other side (Norwegian side, ed. note). The distance was perhaps 2-2.5 kilometers. I ran and ran as hard as I could. Those who pursued me hesitated to follow, says Medvedev.
– So they shot after you? The Russian border guards almost killed you?
– Yes, they have the right to shoot.
Will testify about war crimes
Medvedev will be questioned by Norwegian police during the weekend.
He tells gulagu.net that he has spoken to a Norwegian investigator who is responsible for investigating war crimes.
– I hope the explanation I can give to the police in Norway will play an important role in the investigation of the Wagner group, says Medvedev.
The police’s security service (PST) informs NTB that they are aware of Medvedev’s flight across the border.
– We are following the case to see if there is anything relevant to our tasks, senior advisor Martin Bernsen in PST tells NTB.
