Norwegian police have arrested a former Wagner mercenary group commander on suspicion of trying to cross the border illegally back into Russia after seeking asylum in Norway earlier this year, the man’s lawyer said on Saturday.
Andrei Medvedev, who fled Russia in January via the Arctic border with Norway, has described running as Russian guards opened fire on him.
He has spoken about his time fighting in Ukraine as part of Wagner’s group.
Police said in a statement late Friday that a man in his 20s had been arrested for trying to cross the Russian border illegally, but did not name him.
A local police officer in Finnmark declined to give the identity of the arrested man.
Crossing the border into Russia is only allowed at designated points.
Andrei Medvedev, who fled Russia in January, was arrested for trying to cross the border illegally back into Russia, his lawyer said. Reuters
But Medvedev’s arrest was due to a misunderstanding, his Norwegian lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told Reuters.
“He’s up there to see if he can find the place where he crossed over (to Norway in January). He was stopped while in the taxi. He was never near the border… He never intended to cross the border (into Russia),” Risnes said.
At the time of his arrival in Norway, Medvedev said he was seeking asylum because he feared for his life after witnessing the killing and torture of Russian prisoners brought to the front lines in Ukraine.
Andrei Medvedev’s lawyer said he was stopped while in the taxi but never near the border. Reuters
His escape in January made headlines around the world as a rare example of someone defecting to a Western country while claiming to have fought for Russia as a mercenary in the Ukraine war.
But in May, he said in a video posted on YouTube that he wanted to return to Russia even though he believed it could pose a risk to his life, describing himself as “some kind of boy in the big game” that he no longer wanted. to be a part of.
Risnes said Medvedev has the right to return to Russia if he wants, but “a lot of changes need to happen” to make a safe return.
In April, Medvedev was convicted in Norway of being involved in a bar fight and carrying a firearm but was acquitted of violence against police.
He said then he saw the future and hoped for asylum.
Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed on August 23 when the private jet he was on crashed inexplicably, just two months after he briefly sent his mercenaries marching on Moscow in a direct challenge to the Russian establishment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
