Former commander of Russian group Wagner apologizes for fighting in Ukraine after fleeing to Norway | World news

The previous commander of the infamous Russian mercenary group Wagner Group, who’s looking for asylum in Norway, has apologized for combating in Ukraine.

Andrey Medvedev mentioned he wished to speak about his wartime experiences — and inside a personal group owned by millionaire Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has ties to the Russian president. Vladimir Putin – so “criminals are punished” for his or her crimes.

“Many take into account me a villain, a prison, a assassin,” he informed Reuters. “To begin with, I want to apologize many times, although I do not know the way it will be obtained, I wish to apologize.

“I wish to clarify that I’m not that particular person. Sure, I served in Wagner. There are moments.” [in my story] that individuals do not prefer it, that I even joined them, however no one is born sensible.’

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In an interview in Oslo, the 26-year-old mentioned he witnessed the killing and ill-treatment of Russian prisoners taken to Ukraine battle for Wagner.

He mentioned he fled throughout the Arctic border, climbing barbed-wire fences and evading border patrol with canines when he heard guards firing as he ran via the forest and throughout the frozen river that separates the 2 nations.

A particular report printed by Reuters final week discovered a cemetery within the south of the nation Russia. Lots of the males buried on the outskirts of the village of Bakinskaya within the Krasnodar area had been convicts recruited by Wagner to battle in Ukraine.

Kripos, Norway’s nationwide prison police service, which is in command of investigating warfare crimes, has begun questioning former commander Wagner about his experiences in Ukraine. He has the standing of a witness.

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Born within the Tomsk area of Siberia, he mentioned he was positioned in an orphanage when he was 12 years previous after the demise of his mom and the disappearance of his father.

After being drafted into the Russian military in 2014 on the age of 18 and serving with the thirty first Airborne Brigade in Donbass, based mostly in Ulyanovsk, he mentioned he joined Wagner Group after serving his ultimate jail time period in July 2022.

After signing a four-month contract for a month-to-month wage of round 250,000 rubles (£2,884). He crossed the border with Ukraine on July 16 and fought close to Bakhmut.

“It was hell. The roads to Artemovsk had been suffering from the corpses of our troopers,” he mentioned, utilizing the Russian native title for Bakhmut. “The losses had been heavy… I noticed many buddies die.

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He led the platoon, took orders from the platoon chief and deliberate fight missions – and witnessed two individuals who did not wish to battle being shot in entrance of newly recruited prisoners.

“The scariest factor? Realizing that there are individuals who take into account themselves your countrymen and who might kill you immediately or at somebody’s command,” he mentioned. “Your individual individuals. That was in all probability the scariest factor.”

He’s the primary recognized fighter from the Wagner group who fought in Ukraine to flee overseas.

The Wagner Group is a Russian mercenary group. It’s a community of firms and teams quite than a single entity and consists of numerous convicts recruited from Russian prisons who spearheaded assaults in Ukraine.

The group can be gaining floor in Africa, constructing alliances, spreading Russian disinformation and having access to oil, gasoline, gold and different priceless minerals.