 "How Andrey Medvedev, ex-Wagner Group commander fighting in Ukraine, fled to Norway")
A former commander of the military contractor the Wagner Group has sought asylum in Norway. Andrey Medvedev, a Russian, has said he fears for his life after he defected from the Wagner Group, which is owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a millionaire with ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin. The Wagner Group includes a large number of convicts recruited in Russian prisons who have spearheaded attacks in Ukraine. Medvedev said he fled after seeing prisoners on the frontlines mistreated and Wagner Group fighters executed by their own commanders. Let’s take a closer look at Medvedev and how he fled to Norway: Early life and joining Wagner Group According to The Guardian, Medvedev is the first Wagner Group soldier to flee abroad. Medvedev grew up in a Siberian orphanage and spent years in jail for robbery, as per the newspaper. BBC quoted Russian human rights group Gulagu.net as saying that Medvedev was a soldier in the Russian Army.
Medvedev joined Wagner Group in July 2022 after spending time in prison between 2017 and 2018.
Gulagu.net founder told the outlet Medvedev was put in command of a Wagner division in Ukraine and given around 30-40 men per week. CNN quoted Medvedev as saying, “I signed a contract with the group on the 6th of July 2022. I had been appointed commander of the first squad of the 4th platoon of the 7th assault detachment.” Things changed after prisoners began arriving, he said. “They stopped treating us like humans. We were just thrown to fight like cannon fodder. Every week they sent more prisoners to us. We lost a lot of men. Casualties were high. We would lose 15 to 20 men just in our platoon. As far as I know, a majority of them were buried in LPR [Luhansk People’s Republic] and declared missing. If you are declared missing, there is no insurance pay-out to the relatives.” Medvedev was quoted as saying that soldiers and mercenaries were killed for “refusing to fight, or betrayal.” “The commanders took them to a shooting field and they were shot in front of everyone. Sometimes one guy was shot, sometimes they would be shot in pairs,” he told The Guardian.
“It shocked us to the core, it was so fucked-up,” he added.
Medvedev told Gulagu.net in an interview his contract was repeatedly extended without consent. Osechkin claimed to CNN that Medvedev was also beaten after refusing to renew his contract. Medvedev also said Yevgeny Nuzhin, a clip of whom being executed with a sledgehammer went viral in December, was part of his unit. Prigozhin at the time released a statement calling Nuzhin a traitor and added that “a dog receives a dog’s death”. It was then that Medvedev decided to leave the Wagner Group. The escape BBC quoted Gulagu.net as saying left Ukraine in November and spent two months hiding in Russia. The human rights group helped Medvedev after he told them was afraid of dying in agony.
“I am afraid for my life,” Medvedev was quoted as saying by CNN.
“I did not commit any crime. I have refused to participate in maneuvers of Yevgeny Prigozhin.” As per CNN, Medvedev said that he crossed the border into Norway near the Russian town of Nikel. Gulagu.net on its website published an interview with Medvedev in which he detailed his escape. Medvedev said he crossed the snowy border, climbing through barbed-wire fences and evading a border patrol with dogs, and heard guards firing shots as he ran through a forest and over thin and breaking ice into Norway. “When I was on the ice [at the border], I heard dogs barking, I turned around, I saw people with torches, about 150 metres [500ft] away, running in my direction,” Medvedev said. “I heard two shots, the bullets whizzed by.” Police in Arctic Norway last week confirmed a person had illegally entered from Russia by crossing the two countries’ border, which is 198 kilometers long. The man, who was only identified by authorities as a foreigner, was detained by border guards and the arrest was undramatic, police said. The man is said to have visited a private house in the border area and asked for help. Police said that they had been notified late Thursday by Russian border guards who discovered traces in the snow that could indicate that someone had crossed the border illegally. His Norwegian lawyer, Brynjulf Risnes, confirmed that Medvedev was in Norway and had sought asylum. What is important for him (Medvedev) is that immigration authorities clarify his status as soon as possible," lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told Reuters. The case was handed to the Norwegian immigration police and the man was transferred to Oslo, where he was placed in a center for violators of migration laws. Police in Norway have declined to comment on the case. Prigozhin in a statement said Medvedev had worked in a Norwegian unit of Wagner and had “mistreated prisoners”. “Be careful, he’s very dangerous,” Prigozhin added. He did not address the claims of killings or mistreatment of prisoners in the statement. The Wagner Group has become increasingly influential in Africa, where it has been pushing Russian disinformation, building alliances with regimes and gaining access to oil, gas, gold, diamonds and valuable minerals. Russia sent tens of thousands of armed forces into Ukraine on 24 February in what it calls a “special military operation” to “denazify” its neighbour and protect Russian security. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .