In an interview with TV 2, Wagner defector Andrej Medvedev tells how he managed to get through the strictly guarded and monitored border area on the Russian side.
– I got help from a man. It was a sentinel. A checkpoint. There were soldiers standing there. A man fixed a passport for me. He had found a passport with a picture of someone who looked like me. The passport photo looked like me. We arrived at the checkpoint, and they asked for papers. I showed the passport. They asked no questions and we were let in.
He expresses gratitude to dissidents and others who helped him escape.
Now he wants to start a new life in Norway.
– First and foremost, I want political asylum and the opportunity to live on Norwegian territory, says Andrej Medvedev.
– Lost many friends
He explains himself in questioning with Kripos about the Wagner group, and tells TV 2 that he wants to write a book about his role in the notorious mercenary group.
LIKES NORWAY: The Russian Wagner defector Andrej Medvedev. Photo: Christian Roth Christensen / TV 2
– I want to develop further, together with Vladimir Osetshkin, who started Gulagu.net. We want to publish a book. The provisional title is “Towards Wagner”. Because Vladimir is also actively fighting against what is going on there. And I also want to oppose that, says Medvedev.
He would like to see Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary company, brought before an international court.
– I lost many friends because of him. I only tell what I know. I try to actively help. Achieve results. At the very least, I want people to be brought to justice. Most of all, I want them to be punished, says Andrej Medvedev to TV 2.
But Medvedev, who has served as team manager for the Wagner group in Ukraine, will not share details of his stay in Ukraine, saying that this is because he is still being questioned by Kripos.
Kripos, which has the national responsibility for investigating war crimes in Norway, has conducted several interviews with him after he arrived in Oslo.
– It hasn’t been every day, but three days a week, he explains.
Now he has a short break in the interrogations, and is receiving medical and psychological help. Kripos also participates in the international investigation of war crimes in Ukraine.
THE ESCAPE: The Russian Wagner defector Andrej Medvedev with a picture of the border crossing point Svanevatn on the big screen in the background. Photo: Christian Roth Christensen / TV 2
Got help from several people
Several experts have pointed out that it is almost impossible to get over where he crossed the border into Norway. Medvedev says his military training has been an advantage.
The border area from Murmansk towards Kirkenes is around 20 miles, and there are barbed wire fences, electric alarms, cameras with night vision and many border guards in the area.
He tells TV 2 that after he had first managed to pass the checkpoint with the passport he had been given, the next step was to get from Nikel to the border.
Here, too, someone helped him.
Someone drove him to a point on the Russian side where it should be easy to cross the border, he explains while showing on a map how he got to Norway.
The border crossing took place in an area that is very open, in the middle of the thickest part of the Pasvik River.
HERE HE CAME OVER: The Russian Wagner defector Andrej Medvedev shows on the map where he crossed the Pasvikelva. Photo: Christian Roth Christensen / TV 2
– We came with the car, then we turned here. I was prepared, and was dressed in white camouflage clothing. I got out of the car and along the road.
– Destroyed the phone
From there it was about ten meters to the first border fence. Nearby there were also two motion sensors. He thinks one of them caught him.
– I climbed over the other fence, and there was a small forest clearing towards the water. I passed the forest, walked over the ice and saw that the water was not completely frozen, he continues.
He then chose to walk on the ice along the edge.
– Then I heard a dog barking. I went back, and saw light from several lanterns. I saw that they were running after me, he says.
At this time, he still had a mobile phone with him. He wrote a message to one of his aides that he crossed the border.
– Afterwards I heard two shots. I destroyed the phone, threw it in the forest, turned and ran, he says of the last steps on Russian soil.
CROSSING SVANEVATN: The Russian Wagner defector Andrej Medvedev shows the details of the escape route. Photo: Christian Roth Christensen / TV 2
On the Norwegian side of the border, he had to find someone who could contact the police.
Lady opened the door
– I walked around and saw where there was light in the houses, to ask for help and call the police. I found a house and knocked on the door. A lady opened the door and I said “good day” in broken English. She looked at me. I explained that I was from Russia. She said ok, and closed the door.
At this point, before the woman could call Pasvik border station, the alarm had already gone off:
There, a message had been received via the police about a possible border crossing from Russia to Norway. Russian border guards had found tracks leading towards the Norwegian border.
On the Norwegian side, the Pasvik company had the task of apprehending an unidentified person who was wandering outside in the winter night.
DRAMATIC: The Russian Wagner defector Andrej Medvedev tells about his dramatic escape to Norway. Photo: Christian Roth Christensen / TV 2
Lay down on the ground
Medvedev says he was walking along the road, away from the house where the woman lived, when a car with Norwegian border guards stopped.
– I went towards the car lights, and soldiers came out. They explained that I had to lie down on the ground. They checked my pockets, asked who I was and where I came from, says Andrej Medvedev.
When a police patrol arrived at the scene to assist in the arrest, he was offered hot tea from a thermos. He refused before they drove to the police station, where he got warmth back into his body, dry clothes and food.
When asked why the Russian border guards didn’t run after him in the last stretch, he has two explanations:
– I think they didn’t run after me because they were afraid to go through the thin ice. The other reason could be that they didn’t see me, as I was wearing white camouflage clothing.
