news met the Russian defector Andrej Medvedev on Monday evening at Egertorget in Karl Johans gate in the center of Oslo. Andrej Medvedev met with news in the middle of Oslo city center late on Monday evening. Photo: Olav Døvik / news The 26-year-old, who claims he was previously a mercenary for the notorious Russian Wagner group in Ukraine, has agreed to an interview. He meets us alone and without any kind of security measures around him. He wears gray sweatpants and a hoodie and a black jacket over the top. The interview will take place right next to the Storting. Medvedev: – For them, I am a devil. Medvedev has received comments from Ukrainians in Norway who have reacted to the fact that he has applied for asylum here. – I understand that it is difficult to understand. To them I am a devil. I only ask you to emphasize that I acknowledged it, admittedly late, but I acknowledged it, says Andrej Medvedev to news. – I have stood up to it. I ask you not to condemn me, and anyway I apologize. news’s foreign reporter Jan Espen Kruse interviewed defector Andrej Medvedev in Russian in the middle of central Oslo. Photo: Helge Tvedten / news The escape over the Pasvik river Andrej Medvedev came across the border river from Russia in Pasvikdalen in Finnmark on the night of Friday 13 January. When he met the Norwegian police, he applied for asylum. He himself has said that he enlisted as a mercenary in the Russian Wagner group on 6 July last year. He is said to have been sent to Ukraine and participated in matches there as a team leader, before he says he decided to quit. Andrej Medvedev says he heard shots when he was being chased by Russian border guards and that they released a dog after him. Photo: Olav Døvik / news He tells news that his escape across the border from Russia was dramatic. – I jumped over two fences, I went through a small forest, went out to the edge of a river. I walked on the ice and was chased by Russian border guards. They released a dog, but it got stuck in barbed wire. I heard two shots, turned quickly and got over the ice and got over to the Norwegian side, on the Norwegian shore, says Medvedev. Last week he was released from the Trandum immigration detention center at Gardermoen after he was first arrested by the Police’s immigration unit. His then Norwegian defender Brynjulf Risnes then said that it happened because there was a disagreement between the police and the client about the security measures. The lawyer finished the assignment Lawyer Brynjulf Risnes finished his assignment for Andrej Medvedev on Monday. Photo: Tom Balgaard On Monday morning, lawyer Risnes informed that he had finished his assignment for Medvedev. – Now Andrej is no longer detained, his asylum application is being processed by UDI and he is currently being interviewed by Kripos about his experiences during the war in Ukraine, as he had wished. He is not suspected of another offence, an illegal border crossing from Russia to Norway on 13 January, Risnes wrote in a message to the press. According to what news understands, Medvedev was in a new interview with Kripos on Monday. Thinks his life is in danger The Russian 26-year-old says to news that he assumes his life is in danger in Norway. – If we look at what is happening now, and we assume that I have decided to tell the world what is going on, I have decided to stand up to it. Yes, I suppose there is a danger, says Medvedev. – I can feel fear, but I am not afraid of anyone. Because I know I’m right and I have nothing to be afraid of. Medvedev: – Extradition means death for me Andrej Medvedev tells news that he will be killed if he is extradited to Russia or Ukraine. Photo: Helge Tvedten / news The Norwegian authorities are now processing Andrej Medvedev’s asylum application. If he is found guilty of war crimes, he will not be given refugee status, and at the same time it could be dangerous to send him back to Russia. – Everyone must understand that if I am sent to Russia, it means death in my case. Everyone must also understand that if I am sent to Ukraine, it also means death, says Medvedev himself to news. – I can be exchanged to Russia for a group of officers. Wagner wants to show that regardless of the methods they use, they can get hold of a person, he says. The infamous Russian mercenary group has, among other things, shared a video in which another defector was killed with a sledgehammer after he was handed over to them.
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Former Wagner soldier apologizes to Ukrainians – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
