\n Norwegian police said Wednesday they had released a man claiming to be a former member of Russian mercenary group Wagner, who fled to Norway nearly a fortnight ago.\n<\/p>\n
\n Andrei Medvedev, 26, crossed the Russian-Norwegian border in the country's far north in the early hours of January 13 and sought asylum in the Scandinavian country.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was arrested on Sunday for refusing to follow restrictions imposed by police since his arrival in the country, according to his lawyer.\n<\/p>\n
\n On Wednesday, immigration police released Medvedev from the Trandum immigration detention centre \"on condition that he stays in a specific place,\" Jon Andreas Johansen, a police official in charge of immigration affairs, told AFP in an email.\n<\/p>\n
\n Medvedev claims to have fought in Ukraine as a member of Wagner for four months before deserting in November, when the paramilitary organisation led by businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin allegedly extended his contract against his will.\n<\/p>\n
\n A potentially valuable witness in shedding light on the group's reported brutality in Ukraine, Medvedev -- who claims to have witnessed executions of other members for refusing to fight -- has been questioned by Norwegian authorities since arriving in the country.\n<\/p>\n
\n Many questions remain about Medvedev's past and the circumstances of his escape, with some experts saying he could not have crossed the heavily guarded border without assistance.\n<\/p>\n
\n He claims to have dashed across the frozen Pasvik river that marks part of the Russian-Norwegian border while being chased by attack dogs and Russian border guards, who fired at him.\n<\/p>\n
\n AFP has not been able to independently confirm his account of events.\n<\/p>\n
\n Since his arrival in Norway, Medvedev has been interviewed as a \"witness\" by Norway's Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos), which is part of the international investigation into war crimes in Ukraine.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"He said earlier that he had been a member of the Wagner group, and it is interesting for Kripos to gather more information about this period,\" the organisation said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Both police and his lawyer have ruled out deportation to Russia.\n<\/p>\n
\n In an interview with the rights group Gulagu.net, the ex-mercenary said this week that he feared for his life if he were to be sent back to his country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Norwegian police said Wednesday they had released a man claiming to be a former member of Russian mercenary group Wagner, who fled to Norway nearly a fortnight ago. Andrei Medvedev, 26, crossed the Russian-Norwegian border in the country's far north in the early hours of January 13 and sought asylum in the Scandinavian country. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-111572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n