After fleeing Russia, former Wagner commander seeks asylum as a Norwegian citizen

MOSCOW, (Reuters) – A former commander in Russia’s Wagner mercenary unit who fought in Ukraine claims he fled to Norway in search of asylum. He said he had abandoned Russia in fear for the safety of his life.

Andrei Medvedev, a member of the group who joined on July 6th 2022, signed a four-month contract and said in a Gulagu.net rights video that he had crossed into Norway and was then detained by Norwegian police.

Medvedev was an orphan who joined Russia’s army and spent time in prison prior to joining Wagner.

Medvedev said to Vladimir Osechkin that he was afraid of dying in pain. Osechkin is the founder of Gulagu.net rights organization. The group claimed it helped Medvedev leave Russia after he approached them in fear for his own life.

Medvedev stated that he was speaking from Oslo.

He said he had crossed the border climbing through barbed-wire fencings to evade a border patrol with dogs. He also claimed that he heard gunshots as he ran through dense forest, over thin, and broke ice towards Norway.

Yevgeny Prgozhin, founder of Wagner, claimed that Medvedev had been in a Norwegian Wagner unit, but had “mistreated prisoner”.

In a statement, Prigozhin stated that he was dangerous. In his statement, Prigozhin didn’t address claims of murders or mistreatment prisoners.

Medvedev stated that he became disillusioned after Wagner repeatedly extended his contract without his consent, and after witnessing the murder and mistreatment Russian prisoners brought to the front of the battlefront by Wagner.

Medvedev claimed that there were significant losses after Wagner began to send large numbers of prisoners into the front in 2022’s second half. Medvedev claimed that Wagner’s inner security service gave out extreme punishment.

He claimed that a man shown in November being executed using a sledgehammer was part of his unit.

Wagner did not mention Medvedev’s accounts for punishment and battlefield losses or that his contract was repeatedly extended.

Prigozhin said that his group was an effective fighting force as it has extensive battlefield experience, is well-supplied, has a meritocratic command structure in which everyone can contribute, and has “the strictest discipline”.

(Reporting and Editing by Guy Faulconbridge. Editing by Andrew Heavens.

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