Former Wagner Group commander who fled to Norway feared for his life

A former commander with the Russian mercenary Wagner Group who sought asylum in Norway spoke of how he feared for his life in an interview conducted last month in Russia with the Guardian.

Andrey Medvedev, 26, said that in Ukraine he had witnessed the summary killing of Wagner fighters accused by their own commanders of disobeying orders, sometimes in pairs.

After fleeing his unit, he crossed the border into Norway near the Pasvikdalen valley shortly before 2am local time last Friday, where he was arrested and detained by border guards.

Medvedev is the first known soldier from the Wagner Group who fought in Ukraine to flee abroad.

Before he left Russia, Medvedev spoke over several phone calls, in which he described in detail his time fighting with Wagner in eastern Ukraine.

Wagner, run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, has played a key role in the months-long Russian offensive against the east Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

To bolster its ranks, Wagner has recruited as many as 40,000 convicts from prisons across Russia, according to estimates by western intelligence and Russian human rights groups.

Medvedev, who grew up in a Siberian orphanage and spent at least four years in prison for robbery, also claimed he knew of at least 10 killings of Wagner soldiers who had disobeyed, and had witnessed some personally.

Medvedev described how he grew disaffected with Wagner after witnessing the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners who were brought to the front by Wagner.

He said he decided to flee in early July after his contract was repeatedly extended by Wagner without his consent.

Medvedev also said he had commanded Yevgeny Nuzhin, a convicted murderer recruited by Wagner who surrendered to Ukrainian forces but was later allegedly handed over to Russia and executed.

He said he was ready to tell everything he knows about the Wagner Group, its activities and Prigozhin.

In a statement published on his social media channels on Monday, Prigozhin confirmed Medevev was a former Wagner soldier.