A Russian man, believed to be a former high-ranking member of Russian private military contractor Wagner Group, has applied for asylum in Norway.
The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) confirmed on Monday that Andrei Medvedev had sought refuge in the Scandinavian country, but could not comment further on the matter for “security and confidentiality” reasons.
Mr Medvedev’s Norwegian lawyer, Brynjulf Risnes, also confirmed the news.
The Norwegian immigration police took up the case and Mr Medvedev was transferred to Oslo, where he was placed in a center for immigration offenders. Norwegian police declined to comment.
The individual, suspected by Norwegian Arctic Police of entering the country illegally on Thursday evening, is believed to be identical to Mr Medvedev, who according to Norwegian news agency NTB has been on the run since he left the Wagner group on July 6th.
He told Russian human rights group Gulagu that he is ready to tell everything he knows about the activities of the private group and its millionaire owner Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has links to the Russian president. Vladimir Poutine.
After crossing the 197km long border between Russia and Norway, the individual believed to be Mr Medvedev reportedly sought help at a private house in the area closest to the border.
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What is the Wagner Group?
The Wagner Group is a Russian mercenary organization.
It is a network of companies and groups rather than a single entity, and includes a large number of convicts recruited from Russian prisons, who carried out attacks in Ukraine.
The group has also become increasingly influential in Africa, where it has forged alliances, spread Russian disinformation and gained access to oil, gas, gold and other valuable minerals.
The group’s involvement in the Ukrainian War
On Tuesday, the group again claimed that Russian forces had taken control of Ukraine Salt mining town of Soledarin the eastern region of Donbass.
Sky News analyst Professor Michael Clarke said Moscow appears to have taken Soledar at the cost of 15,000 Wagner Group troops who were injured or killed.
The same claim was made on Friday, but was quickly challenged by Ukrainian authorities.
Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Saturday that the situation in the city was “difficult” but that it remained under Ukrainian control.
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“Although there is street fighting and also fighting outside the city because the enemy is trying to advance in several directions. The enemy is suffering huge casualties,” he said. said in a video posted on the Telegram app.
The Wagner group also claimed the body of one of two missing British aid workers in Ukraine, Christopher Parry, 28, and Andrew Bagshaw, 48, had been found.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was aware of the information and was in contact with Ukrainian authorities.
