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Tried to return to Russia, the former commander of Wagner is arrested

Politiko 2023-09-23 15:50:48

Tried to return to Russia, the former commander of Wagner is arrested

The police in Norway have arrested the former commander of the mercenary group Wagner, under suspicions that he tried to cross the border illegally to return to Russia, after seeking asylum in Norway, earlier in the year.

Andrei Medvedev, who fled Russia across the Norwegian border, is said to have run when Russian border guards opened fire on him.

Norwegian police said in a statement that a man, in his 20s, had been taken into custody for trying to illegally cross the border into Russia, but did not name him.

Crossing Norway's border with Russia is only allowed at certain points.

However, Medvedev's lawyer, Brynjulf ​​Risnecs, said that his arrest was made after a misunderstanding.

"He went there to find the place where he crossed the border in January. He was stopped when he was in a taxi. He never came close to the border. It was never his intention to enter Russia", added Risnecs.

When he first arrived in Norway, Medvedev said he sought asylum because he feared he might be killed after witnessing the killing and ill-treatment of Russian prisoners sent to the war front in Ukraine.

His escape in January made world headlines as a rare example of someone fleeing to a Western country despite claiming to have fought for Russia as a mercenary in the war in Ukraine.

Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed on August 23 when a private plane crashed under unclear circumstances.

The plane crashed just two months after he started a rebellion against Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia./REL

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