Andrey Medvedev, a former Kremlin-controlled mercenary Wagner Group platoon commander who sought asylum in Norway, has been arrested in Oslo, exiled Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe reported.
Medvedev reportedly fought outside a bar in Norway’s capital on Feb. 22. He resisted the arrest and “kicked one or more officers,” according to the court files.
The former Wagner mercenary is charged with three criminal offenses.
Medvedev sought asylum in Norway in January after illegally crossing into the country.
In December 2022, he told The Insider, a Russian investigative media outlet, that he is aware of ten cases when the Wagner Group executed mercenaries for refusing to fight in Ukraine.
Medvedev was the commander of Yevgeny Nuzhin, a former prisoner who had signed a contract to fight with the Wagner Group in Ukraine. Shortly after arriving, he surrendered to Ukrainian forces.
On Nov. 13, a video surfaced of Nuzhin’s execution by sledgehammer, which subsequently became a self-ascribed symbol of the paramilitary group.
It later turned out that Nuzhin had been part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. Evgeniy Prigozhin, who runs the Wagner Group, said in November that Nuzhnin was "a traitor," adding that "a dog died a dog's death."
The Wagner Group has been accused of human rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial killings, in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, Sudan, and Mozambique.
