Medvedev fled his unit in July, went into hiding in Russia and crossed the border at Pasvikdalen into Norway on Friday, where he was arrested and held by border guards. According to the Finnmark police, Medvedev has applied for asylum in Norway.
Cannon fodder
Before fleeing Russia, Medvedev spoke to The Guardian several times by phone and detailed his time as a Wagner fighter in eastern Ukraine. Medvedev said he fought at Bachmoet as a commander. According to Medvedev, his unit consisted mainly of prisoners who were thrown into battle as “cannon fodder”.
“Prisoners are used as cannon fodder, as meat. I have a group of inmates. In my platoon, only three men out of 30 survived,” Medvedev told The Guardian. “We had more prisoners then, and many of them died too.” According to Western intelligence services, some 40,000 prisoners have so far enlisted. in the Wagner group in exchange for release after six months of service.
Executions
Medvedev says he knows of at least 10 cases of disobedient Wagnerians being killed and has personally witnessed some of the executions. “The commanders took them to a shooting range and they were killed in front of everyone. Sometimes one man was shot, sometimes they were shot in pairs,” he said.
According to Medvedev, the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners made him decide to turn his back on the Wagner group. “He shook us to the bone, he sucked.” The former commander decided to flee in early July after his contract was repeatedly extended by Wagner without his consent.
Medvedev also claimed to have commanded Yevgeny Nuzhin, a convicted assassin recruited by Wagner who surrendered to Ukrainian forces but was later extradited to Russia and subsequently executed. Wagner’s boss Prigozhin said that “a dog” should get “a dog’s death.”
“I am afraid my fate will be the same as Nuzhin’s because I have made my voice heard. I fear for my life,” Medvedev said in December as he went into hiding in Russia.
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