OSLO A Russian posing as a former US mercenary Wagner groupa paramilitary militia with ties to the Kremlin, managed to escape Norway after crossing the national border through the Arctic, where, according to his lawyer, he wants to apply for political asylum.
Andrei Medvedev, 26, was arrested after irregularly crossing the Norwegian border early on Friday the 13th, Norwegian lawyer Brinjulf Risnes said. “He is willing to speak to people who investigate war crimes about his experience with the Wagner group,” he said.
In an interview published by the NGO Gulagu, the suspected defector explained that his contract was renewed against his will after serving several months in Ukraine in the ranks of the businessman’s militia. Yevgeny Prigozhin.
:quality(80)/cloudfrontuseast1.images.arcpublishing.com/estadao/N63KAQLA5JFE3KLHHLNJJSRXEA.jpg "Russian mercenary crosses Norway border across Arctic to defect, lawyer says 3")
A man who claimed to be a former Russian mercenary said he entered Norway via the Arctic border. Photo: Maxim Shemetov/Portal 10/24/2019
“My former employers tried to find me, the Wagner Society, Prihozhin and his ilk, the FSB [serviço de segurança russo]. A criminal search operation started [contra mim] by the Home Office,” he said.
“He was threatened with kidnapping, murder (…) or worse, execution with a hammer [na cabeça]” said Medvedev, referring to another defector from the Wagner group, whose death was recorded and broadcast on social networks in November.
The alleged deserter pretends to be the former head of a group of about 10 men. He said he crossed an icy river separating Russia from Norway while a Russian patrol was in pursuit.
“I heard a dog barking, I turned and saw people running towards me with flashlights about 150 meters away,” he explained.
Find out more about the Wagner Group
“I heard two shots (…) I walked about 2 km on the ice with the help of the light from the houses,” he said.
According to his lawyer, the man spoke to Norwegian citizens and explained that he had crossed the border irregularly. The police arrested him shortly thereafter.
According to Brinjulf Risnes, his client decided not to renew his contract with the Wagner group after he “experienced something very different than what he expected”.
AFP could not independently confirm that the young Russian fought as a mercenary in the group, which has a strong presence in Africa and is suspected of committing various human rights abuses in Ukraine./ AFP