Former Wagner Group commander detained while trying to return to Russia

The Norwegian police have detained Andrei Medvedev, Former Commander of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), who had previously fled from Russia to Norway and asked for asylum, while attempting to illegally cross the border with Russia.

Source: The Barents Observer; European Pravda

Details: Medvedev was stopped on Friday evening, 22 September, in the village of Grense Jakobselv, Norway, on the border with the Russian Federation, while he was trying to cross the border in the dark and get to the Kola Peninsula, Russia.

Finnmark district police confirmed to the Barents Observer that a man in his 20s was detained and will be charged with violating border regulations. Neither the name nor the nationality of the detainee was specified, but police confirmed that he was trying to leave Norway for Russia.

Crossing the land border in this area is illegal.

Medvedev tried to cross the border just a few hours after briefly meeting with a Barents Observer journalist in the city centre of Kirkenes. The 27-year-old former Wagner Group fighter said he intended to cross the border and was looking for someone to give him a ride.

Medvedev was agitated, but at the same time calm and determined. The former Wagner Group commander explained that he believed he would soon be extradited to Ukraine and that returning to Russia was a safer alternative.

Right after this conversation, he apparently managed to get to Grense Jakobselv, located 50 km from Kirkenes. Norway and Russia are separated only by a small shallow river there.

It is unclear how Medvedev got to this area. Public transport does not go to the border river.

Background:

• Medvedev's escape from Russia to Norway in the middle of winter was reported by a big number of world media.
• Medvedev managed to penetrate the border zone on the Kola Peninsula, which is carefully guarded, and then cross to Norway.
• Medvedev feared for his life and requested asylum in Norway. He witnessed the torture and murders committed by the Wagner Group in Ukraine and quickly confirmed that he was ready to testify in court against his former boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.
• Medvedev was in Kirkenes in June and emphasised in an interview with the Barents Observer that he does not plan to return to Russia, admitting he was afraid of being sent to Ukraine.
• In July, Medvedev again arrived in Kirkenes. In the second conversation with the Barents Observer, he repeated that he does not plan to return to Russia.
• At the same time, in May, Medvedev said he wants to return to Russia, even if it could put his life at risk.

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