Mon, January 23, 2023
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A former high-ranking member of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group seeking asylum in Norway is in custody on suspicion of entering the Scandinavian country illegally, authorities said Monday.
Russian Andrey Medvedev “has been arrested under the Immigration Act and it is being assessed whether he should be produced for detention,” Jon Andreas Johansen of Norwegian immigration police told The Associated Press. Norway's VG newspaper said detaining him isn't intended as a a punishment, but a security measure.
Medvedev, who says he fears for his life if he returns to Russia, is believed to have illegally entered Norway after crossing the country’s 198 kilometer-long (123-mile) border with Russia earlier this month.
Vladimir Osechkin of the Russian dissident group Gulagu.net, which helped Medvedev flee Russia, said he had been in protective custody in a safe house and was moved without explanation to a secured immigration facility.
Medvedev's Norwegian lawyer, Brynjulf Risnes, insisted on broadcaster NRK that his client is not suspected of any offense and that he's unaccustomed to Norway's new, stricter security measures for him.
“Significant security measures have been introduced. Medvedev has problems adapting to them,” Risnes told NRK.
In a video posted by Gulagu, Medvedev said he came under Russian gunfire before crossing into the Scandinavian country. Norwegian police said they were notified by Russian border guards about tracks in the snow indicating that someone may have crossed illegally.
Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service, which takes part in the investigation of war crimes in Ukraine said it's questioning Medvedev who "has the status of a witness.” Osechkin said the former fighter spoke to investigators on Friday.
Medvedev, who has been on the run since he defected from the Wagner Group, has reportedly told Gulagu.net that he is ready to tell everything he knows about the shady paramilitary group and its owner Yevgeny Prigozhin, a millionaire with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Medvedev said he left the Wagner Group after his contract was extended beyond the July-November timeline without his consent. He said he's willing to testify about any war crimes he witnessed and denied participating in any.
The Wagner Group, which has spearheaded attacks against Ukrainian forces, includes a large number of convicts recruited from Russian prisons. The group has has become increasingly influential in Africa.
Russian Wagner boss acknowledges comparison with Rasputin
Wagner private military group centre opens in St Petersburg
Sun, January 22, 2023
(Reuters) - Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to comparisons between himself and the monk Rasputin who treated the son of the last tsar for haemophilia, saying on Sunday his job was not to staunch bleeding but to spill the blood of Russia's enemies.
The Financial Times newspaper said at the weekend that Prigozhin had growing influence on the Kremlin and likened him to Orthodox monk Grigory Rasputin, who had considerable influence on the wife of Russia's last tsar, Nikolai II.
Prigozhin acknowledged only last September that he had founded the Wagner group, which has played a major role in the Russian military's attempts to capture territory in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.
"I am not very familiar with the history of Rasputin, but as far as I know, an important quality of Rasputin is that he staunched the blood flow of the young prince with incantations," Prigozhin's press service quoted him as saying, referring to the article.
"Unfortunately, I do not staunch blood flow. I bleed the enemies of our motherland. And not by incantations, but by direct contact with them."
Wagner has been deployed in a number of African countries, generally to combat insurgents. In recent months, Prigozhin has been seen in online videos trying to lure inmates from Russian prisons to join its ranks in Ukraine.
The Financial Times was not the first to compare his role to that of the monk in the Russian imperial court - a Russian journalist made the comparison last year.
The newspaper said that Prigozhin, like Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, another active supporter of Russia's war, "has positioned himself as a searing critic of military, bureaucratic and business elites who are supposedly failing Putin with their half-hearted, incompetent approach to the war".
Prigozhin said the comparisons were "absolutely clear" and he saw his role as bringing wayward Westerners back into line.
"When children engage in mischief, they try to draw the attention of their father with all sorts of unexpected tricks," he wrote. "All Americans have to do therefore is to come to dad, ask for forgiveness and continue to behave normally."
Rasputin was assassinated in 1916 by a group of Russian noblemen who feared his growing influence on the tsarist family.
(Reporting by Maria Starkova and Ron Popeski; Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Wagner private military group centre opens in St Petersburg
Sun, January 22, 2023
(Reuters) - Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to comparisons between himself and the monk Rasputin who treated the son of the last tsar for haemophilia, saying on Sunday his job was not to staunch bleeding but to spill the blood of Russia's enemies.
The Financial Times newspaper said at the weekend that Prigozhin had growing influence on the Kremlin and likened him to Orthodox monk Grigory Rasputin, who had considerable influence on the wife of Russia's last tsar, Nikolai II.
Prigozhin acknowledged only last September that he had founded the Wagner group, which has played a major role in the Russian military's attempts to capture territory in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.
"I am not very familiar with the history of Rasputin, but as far as I know, an important quality of Rasputin is that he staunched the blood flow of the young prince with incantations," Prigozhin's press service quoted him as saying, referring to the article.
"Unfortunately, I do not staunch blood flow. I bleed the enemies of our motherland. And not by incantations, but by direct contact with them."
Wagner has been deployed in a number of African countries, generally to combat insurgents. In recent months, Prigozhin has been seen in online videos trying to lure inmates from Russian prisons to join its ranks in Ukraine.
The Financial Times was not the first to compare his role to that of the monk in the Russian imperial court - a Russian journalist made the comparison last year.
The newspaper said that Prigozhin, like Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, another active supporter of Russia's war, "has positioned himself as a searing critic of military, bureaucratic and business elites who are supposedly failing Putin with their half-hearted, incompetent approach to the war".
Prigozhin said the comparisons were "absolutely clear" and he saw his role as bringing wayward Westerners back into line.
"When children engage in mischief, they try to draw the attention of their father with all sorts of unexpected tricks," he wrote. "All Americans have to do therefore is to come to dad, ask for forgiveness and continue to behave normally."
Rasputin was assassinated in 1916 by a group of Russian noblemen who feared his growing influence on the tsarist family.
(Reporting by Maria Starkova and Ron Popeski; Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Stephen Coates)
No comments:
Post a Comment