Andrey Aleksandrovich Medvedev (; born 16 August 1996), sometimes written as Andrei Medvedev, is a former

Wagner Group The Wagner Group (), officially known as PMC Wagner (, ), is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled 2023 Wagner Group plane crash, until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Pu ...

commander. Medvedev became the first Wagner person to defect, seeking asylum in Norway on 13 January 2023.

His life

Medvedev grew up in

Tomsk Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, spending some of that time in an orphanage. According to Medvedev, he spent several years imprisoned for robbery and a year in military service in

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

in 2014. Medvedev worked as a commander for Wagner Group, after agreeing to a four month contract on 6 July 2022, he told

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

. He fought in the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, stating that he "fought in

Bakhmut Bakhmut is a city in eastern Ukraine. It is officially the administrative center of Bakhmut urban hromada and Bakhmut Raion in Donetsk Oblast. The city is located on the Bakhmutka River, about north of Donetsk, the administrative center ...

, commanding the first squad of the 4th platoon of the 7th assault detachment" and that he left Wagner later in July. Medvedev deserted from Wagner Group in November 2022.

Defection and arrests

At about 2 a.m. on 13 January 2023, Medvedev crossed the Norway-Russia border near the

Pasvikdalen Pasvikdalen () is a valley in Norway and Russia. The Norwegian side of the valley belongs to Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county and the Russian side is located in the Pechengsky District in Murmansk Oblast. The valley contains large ar ...

and was detained by the Norwegian police and soldiers from the Norwegian border guard, thus becoming the first known Wagner Group member to defect. Upon arrival in Norway, Medvedev shared accounts of executions of Wagner deserters and acts that he described as terror-related. Medvedev stated that he feared being murdered with a sledgehammer, in a similar manner to Wagner defector Yevgeny Nuzhin. He reported that he had twice tried to seek asylum in Finland, prior to reaching Norway. Wagner Group released a statement claiming that Medvedev had abused prisoners. Medvedev's escape was supported by the Russian human-rights organisation Gulagu.net. Two weeks later, Medvedev was arrested under Norway's Immigration Act and held in detention in Oslo, before being released. Members of the Ukrainian diaspora in Oslo have protested Medvedev's freedom in Norway and called for his prosecution. In September 2023, Medvedev was arrested by the police at

Grense Jakobselv , , or (also: and ) is a small village in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the shore of the Barents Sea at the mouth of the Jakobselva river. It lies about by road east of the town of Kirkenes. The are ...

, allegedly for attempting to illegally cross the Norwegian-Russian border. He was released later and said that he "only wanted to visit the Norwegian-Russian border areas in connection with a documentary project."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medvedev, Andrey Living people Russian mercenaries Russian emigrants to Norway Russian robbers Pro-Russian people of the Russian invasion of Ukraine 1996 births People from Tomsk Russian military personnel of the war in Donbas