According to his own statement, the man signed a four-month contract with the Wagner group on July 6, but chose to desert the group when the contract expired after he became aware of their hard-line climate, including how soldiers are more or less sent to the front to die and how they who refuse to fight risk execution.
Since then, the man has been on the run, but was taken into custody on Friday in Pasvikdalen by the Norwegian military after he crossed the northern border between Russia and Norway. The man has now applied for asylum in Norway and says he wants to testify against the Wagner group about its war crimes in Ukraine. He claims to have witnessed executions of deserters, but was not himself involved in them.
On Monday, the man was taken to the Norwegian capital, Oslo, where his information will be reviewed to determine whether it is correct or not.
Norwegian police and the Norwegian Migration Board are so far very secretive about the man. He is currently suspected of illegal border crossing.
Security service engaged
Norway’s Minister of Justice, Emilie Enger Mehl, tells NRK that the Norwegian security service, PST, is involved in the case to make a security assessment of the man.
How big a threat does a person like this pose to Norway?
– It is important that the police and security services evaluate that question. The starting point is that everyone has the right to seek asylum and have their application examined, she says.
Doctor of Russian Warfare: “Remarkable”
Oscar Jonsson, PhD in Russian warfare at the Norwegian Defense Academy, says in SVT’s Aktuell that the defection is startling:
– This is the first person from the Wagner group to defect to the West. He says he has, among other things, videos of war crimes that, if true, could have an effect on international law investigations.