On November 30, the human rights organization Gulagu.net published a video on its YouTube channel. The video lasts just over 15 minutes and is entitled “The Escape from Wagner”. TV 2 has not verified the video itself, but the content is confirmed by Medvedev’s lawyer Brynjulf Risnes.
It will show the moment Andrej Medvedev went from being a member of the private military group Wagner to being a wanted deserter.
At the weekend it became known that Medvedev has applied for asylum in Norway. He is now in custody in Oslo, charged with illegal border crossing from Russia to Norway.
Took friends to Wagner
The video claims to show Andrej Medvedev on his way to Wagner’s headquarters in St. Petersburg. Medvedev says he has worked as a mercenary in Wagner, where he goes by the nickname “Dzhoga”.
– I signed an employment contract with Wagner on 6 July 2022, says Medvedev.
According to the defector, Wagner is said to have later changed the contract, without it being cleared with Medvedev himself.
HEADQUARTERS: The state-of-the-art headquarters of the Wagner Group opened in St. Petersburg on October 31 last year. Just days later, Medvedev is said to have handed in his military identification badges at the building. Photo: AP Photo
– I was ordered to stay where I was. Right now I’m on my way to the headquarters of the private military company Wagner. I’m thinking of going there in full public view, with friends, says Medvedev as he films himself driving in a car.
Stuns security guard
The video then jumps forward in time, where another person films Medvedev walking outdoors in the direction of a modern office building. Here, Medvedev is stopped by a uniformed security guard, and the 26-year-old gives him his military identification marks – so-called “dog tags”.
– Are you going to give them up? Who will have them then?, says the security guard and welcomes them in surprise.
TV 2 has spoken to Medvedev’s defender, Brynjulf Risnes, who is familiar with the content of the video. He explains the action as a protest:
– It was a kind of demonstrative act in mid-November. He marches into the headquarters, says Risnes.
According to Gulagu.net, Wagner’s security service and Russian police started a search operation for Andrej Medvedev a day after the incident, because he had deserted.
– He is having a hard time. He is insecure, stressed and tired. It is difficult for him to realize that he is safe, says lawyer Risnes to TV 2 on Tuesday evening.
His client claims to have been on the run from the Russian authorities for nearly two months.
TIRED: Lawyer Brynjar Risnes says his client is stressed and tired. Photo: Christian Roth Christensen / TV 2
– Before that he spent four months in Ukraine for the Wagner group, so there was no dear mother either, adds the defender.
Strikes back against major newspapers
It was also Gulagu.net who shared the first interview with Medvedev after he fled to Norway. Here, the 26-year-old claims that he defected in November, which would agree with the publication time of the video from Wagner’s head office.
Medvedev, through lawyer Risnes, has previously said that he is a witness to war crimes and that he is willing to testify about this.
INTERVIEW: The human rights organization Gulagu.net published a longer interview with Medvedev on January 15, in which he talks about his escape to Norway. Photo: Gulagu.net via Reuters
At the same time, uncertainty is linked to whether Medvedev himself has committed war crimes, and Kripos expressed on Tuesday that they want to interrogate the defector. Risnes tells TV 2 that Medvedev has not yet been questioned by Kripos, but is prepared to cooperate with the Norwegian authorities.
– He is willing to tell about everything he has experienced, says Risnes to TV 2.
The video of Medvedev outside Wagner’s headquarters is mentioned in, among other things New York Times Tuesday. Avisa has delved deeper into Medvedev’s background, and believes there are a number of things that are unclear and contradictory.
The New York Times points out, among other things, that the 26-year-old has served four years in a Russian prison for robbery. Risnes confirms to TV 2 that Medvedev has been convicted of robbery, but denies that he served four years.
– He was sentenced to two years’ probation, says Risnes, who says that this happened when Medvedev was 17 years old.
Suspended sentences must not be served in principle unless one is convicted of further offenses in the future. Lawyer Risnes says that Medvedev is said to have nevertheless served part of the sentence, allegedly because of a conflict with an official.
Grew up in an orphanage
The New York Times further writes that Medvedev grew up in an orphanage, which Risnes confirms. When he signed the contract with Wagner last summer, Medvedev is said to have been on military missions in Ukraine twice before, according to the New York Times.
The newspaper quotes acquaintances of Medvedev, who say he was in the Donbas in both 2015 and 2020, without them being able to shed light on what sales role Medvedev played in the military missions.
Defender Risnes confirms that Medvedev was in Donbas in 2015 and 2020. According to the defender, the first visit should have been in connection with the initial service, and Medvedev should not have been involved in combat actions.
– They were far behind the front line. They must have crossed the border from Russian areas into Donbas, but were never at the front, says Risnes.
According to the defender, the last visit in 2020 was a private matter in connection with the celebration of an acquaintance, and not connected to a military mission.
