On the night of Friday 13 January, Russian Andrej Medvedev (26) crossed the border river in Pasvikdalen in Finnmark. The 26-year-old knocked on the door of a house where the light was on and said in broken English that he needed help and asked them to call the police. The Russian defector Andrej Medvedev says he was hunted by the Russian border guards. Photo: Olav Døvik / news In an exclusive interview with news, the defector, who has applied for asylum in Norway, said that the flight across the border from Russia was dramatic: – When I arrived at the right place, I tried to see where it was most favorable to cross the border. – I jumped over two fences, went through a small forest and arrived at the river. Then I started walking across the ice. Then the Russian border guards were after me! – They sent a dog after me, but it got stuck in barbed wire. I heard two shots, turned around suddenly and ran across the ice, says Medvedev. – Worst place to cross the border Frode Berg worked as a volunteer to build a bridge between Norwegians and Russians, and was a border inspector for 24 years. Photo: news Frode Berg worked for 24 years as a border inspector at Norway’s Border Commission for the Norwegian-Russian border before retiring in 2014. Berg himself was convicted of espionage by a Russian court in 2019. He says the border area is well guarded on both sides of the border. – If I had to choose a crossing point, I would not have chosen that place at all. – It is probably the worst place to try and cross because it is a fairly open area and perhaps uncertain ice. But by all means, he may have had incredible luck, says Frode Berg to news. – It is always a risk to cross the border illegally, but quite possible, yes. In his first interview with a Norwegian media house, the Russian defector Andrej Medvedev says that he regrets what he has done in Ukraine. Warning shot Berg says Medvedev must have passed a border fence on the other side which will most likely trigger an alarm, and that he may therefore have had the border guards after him. – It is realistic to believe that they have hunted him. If they have not fired directly at him, then they have probably fired warning shots because it is normal routine, at least on the Russian side. – They also use dogs in the border guard there and the fact that they have released a dog is quite realistic, says Berg. Frode Berg was arrested in Moscow on 5 December 2017 and sentenced to 14 years in prison for espionage a year and a half later. The retired border inspector served two years in the notorious Lefortovo prison before being pardoned and exchanged for Russian spies. The retired border inspector Frode Berg was convicted of espionage against Russia. Photo: Morten Jentoft Thanking helpers In the interview with news, Wagner defector Andrej Medvedev says that he received a lot of help before he was able to flee across the border. – A whole lot of people were involved in the work to help me survive in Russia. So that I wouldn’t be captured, so that I wouldn’t be killed and so that I could get unhindered to the border area between Russia and Norway. – There were both completely ordinary people, whom I told about my situation, and who helped me. But most important were the human rights defenders in Gulagu.net and the Fund for New Dissidents, says Medvedev. Well-guarded border zone Frode Berg says the defector must have received help to get through a border zone on the Russian side that is well guarded. – There is no civilian traffic in the Russian border zone. There are quite a few Russian border guards and you can quickly be discovered. – For me, this is one of two. The most likely thing is that he had help to cross and that his story is true. – The second thing is that if it is a deliberate act on the Russian side, that they are going to send a person into Norway to plant him here, then I consider it unlikely because then they would probably have used other ways to get a man placed in Norway. Berg says there could also be a third option, that this is also a test or a diversionary maneuver for other things. Denies that he is a spy Andrej Medvedev says he enlisted as a mercenary in the notorious Russian Wagner group on 6 July last year. Through Wagner, he is said to have been sent to Ukraine and participated in matches there as a team manager, before he decided to leave. In the interview with news, he apologized for what he had been involved in to Ukrainians in Norway. In the interview, he also denied that he was a Russian spy. Does anyone think you are sent by the Russian authorities? – I have heard that. It would have been too advanced for the intelligence service there to achieve such a thing. I can assure everyone that is not the case. – I am an ordinary person who has served in Wagner, who has witnessed all the dirty things that take place there, who has become aware of what Russia is doing in Ukraine, and who has decided to stand up against it, says Medvedev.
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– He may have had incredible luck – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
