Andrey Medvedev, a former platoon commander from the so-called "Wagner Group," illegally crossed the Russian-Norwegian border and applied for asylum in Norway. He spoke about this in an interview with the Russian human rights project Gulagu.net.
It is alleged that the border crossing took place on Thursday, January 12, near the Russian mining town of Nikel in the Murmansk region. According to Medvedev, when crossing the border, Russian border guards noticed him and opened fire but missed.
Once on Norwegian territory, the former mercenary turned to local law enforcement agencies and asked for political asylum. He is currently in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, where he was placed in a center for violators of migration laws.
Medvedev claims he is ready to tell everything he knows about the "Wagner group" activities, including its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Medvedev joined the "Wagner group" in July last year. At the end of the 4-month contract, he was forcibly extended his term of service. Then Medvedev arbitrarily left the position and returned to Russia. The man contacted human rights activists and claimed that Prigozhin's people were trying to catch him, so he was actually on the run.
In December, Medvedev gave an interview with The Insider, in which he spoke about the executions and losses in the "Wagner group".
“I had 15 people in my department, this is precisely the assault department, which went on combat missions. The prisoners began to come to us in August. We founded the 4th platoon. We were suicide bombers, because all the “smokers†and those who had been fined went to the 4th platoon. And in a few days, 3 out of 13 people remained in the platoon," he said.
