OSLO, Norway – A former commander of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group who fled to Norway has spoken about how he witnessed a few of his comrades being shot as they have been attempting to flee from the frontline in Ukraine, his Norwegian lawyer informed Reuters.
Andrei Medvedev, who fled from Russia by crossing the Russian-Norwegian border on Jan. 13, has mentioned he fears for his life after witnessing what he mentioned was the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners taken to Ukraine to combat for Wagner.
Medvedev resides in a secret location within the Oslo space after he was launched from detention on Wednesday following a “disagreement” with the police about measures taken to make sure his security.
His lawyer Brynjulf Risnes informed Reuters that Medvedev had seen some “incredibly horrible” conditions whereas he was combating with Wagner final autumn.
He had witnessed “the shooting of his comrades while he was watching because they tried to flee,” Risnes mentioned in an interview, citing Medvedev.
The Russian was “slowly coming to terms with what’s happening”, his lawyer mentioned.
“His life has been chaotic and dangerous and very stressful for a very long time,” Risnes mentioned, “particularly, of course, during the autumn when he was in Ukraine with the Wagner group.”
“But of course, his life hasn’t been easy before that either.”
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed, hundreds of thousands uprooted and cities diminished to rubble since Russian forces invaded Ukraine 11 months in the past.
Kripos, Norway’s nationwide legal police service, which has duty for investigating warfare crimes, has begun questioning him about his experiences in Ukraine and would proceed to take action, Risnes mentioned.
Kripos is a part of a challenge to analyze warfare crimes in Ukraine performed by the International Criminal Court.
Other teams just like the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Clooney Foundation have been additionally thinking about speaking to Medvedev, his lawyer mentioned.
“One main thing will be to coordinate so we don’t have to ask all the questions five or ten times,” Risnes mentioned. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
