Norway arrests ex-Wagner commander under suspicion of illegally crossing Russia border – JURIST

Norwegian police arrested former commander of the Wagner Group, Andrey Medvedev, on Friday under suspicion of attempting to illegally cross the border into Russia, according to local Norwegian news site the Barents Observer. Earlier this year, Medvedev sought asylum in Norway.

Norwegian police in Finnmark confirmed they had arrested a man attempting to cross the border at Grense Jakobselv, a small village in northeast Norway. Police refused to confirm the man’s identity. However, Medvedev’s Norwegian lawyer, Brynjulf Risnes, spoke to Reuters on Saturday and confirmed Medvedev’s detention. He said that it was due to a misunderstanding. Risnes said, “[H]e was up there to see if he could find the place where he crossed (into Norway in January). He was stopped when he was in a taxi. He was never near the border … It was never his intention to cross the border (into Russia).”

In January, Medvedev entered Norway in search of asylum after he fled Russia. Before that, he had signed a contract with the Wagner Group and fought on the battlefield in Ukraine for four months as a commander. When Medvedev’s Wagner Group contract was about to expire, the company unilaterally extended it for six months. During his time as commander, Medvedev received an order to kill prisoners of war—Ukrainian soldiers captured on behalf of Russia.

In May, Medvedev made a statement expressing his desire to return to Russia, notwithstanding the potential danger he could face if he went back representing himself as “some kind of a boy in a big game” that he no longer wanted to be part of.