Norway rejects asylum application of former Wagner group commander
Oslo, Norway (Svidomi) — Norwegian authorities have denied asylum to former Wagner PMC commander Andrey Medvedev, his lawyer said in a comment to Reuters.
After Medvedev fled to Norway, he spoke about war crimes committed by the Wagner group. The former PMC commander said he was ready to testify against the deceased former leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Medvedev sought asylum in Norway out of fear of returning to Russia and possible extradition to Ukraine for his involvement in war crimes.
The Norwegian government refused him because it did not consider Medvedev an official member of the Russian Armed Forces. Despite this, Norway is not going to deport him.
"He risks being punished for desertion and being killed by people from Wagner," Medvedev's lawyer added.
The Wagner PMC is a Russian armed group that has been involved in hostilities, in particular, in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and during the full-scale war against Ukraine, in Syria on the side of Russia's ally, the Assad regime, in Sudan, Libya, and the Central African Republic. The group members are suspected of numerous war crimes, crimes against humanity, etc.
Read about what is happening to Wagner after the death of its leader, Prigozhin, in the explainer by Svidomi.
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