Published: Just now
Andrej Medvedev dropped out of the Wagner group, fled to Norway and sought asylum.
From there he went to Sweden to buy cheap cigarettes and was arrested. Now he is mocked online.
– Lucky no one told him that Belarus has the cheapest cigarettes, writes Facebook user Andrej.
Medvedev’s lawyer Brynjulf Risnes says to VG:
– He thought he could travel to Sweden. Unfortunately, asylum seekers are not allowed to do that. He is sorry for what happened, and hopes that he will soon be returned to Norway, Risnes wrote and continues:
– This should have no bearing on his asylum application in Norway. He will be moved back to Norway as soon as all formalities are completed. When that can happen, only the Swedish Migration Agency knows.
In January, Medvedev was arrested by the police in Northern Norway after he crossed the border from Russia. He then stated that he had been a commander in the Wagner Group in Ukraine, and that Russian border guards had fired at him during his escape. Since then, an asylum process has been ongoing in Norway.
When Medvedev was told that cigarettes are much cheaper in Sweden (60 kroner per pack in Gothenburg compared to 158 kroner in Oslo), he got on the bus and crossed the border even though he does not have the right to stay in Sweden.
Medvedev missed the bus back and started walking towards Norway. Then he was arrested by Swedish police. He is now in the Swedish Migration Agency’s custody.
This is written by the leader of the organization Gulagu.net, Vladimir Ovetchkin, who helped Medvedev escape to Norway, on their Facebook page.
The mockery of Medvedev is extensive, in the comments of Russian-language users on Ovetchkin’s Facebook page:
– This sounds so absurd, like a babbling schoolboy, thinks Facebook user Dmitry.
Several state that he should stop smoking instead of crossing national borders in search of cigarettes, and Egor states:
– Smoking not only kills, it can also lead to deportation…
Some also wonder how the whole thing was supposed to work out financially:
– I just have one question: how much did the bus ticket cost? writes Yulia.
Others wonder how Medvedev reasoned when he missed the bus:
– Had he intended to go all the way back? It’s 300 kilometers, Vyacheslav wonders.
Many question Medvedev’s intelligence:
– Such a small child, Natasha thinks.
The Swedish police state that Medvedev will be driven back to Norway:
– He has stayed in Sweden without permission. But he is not suspected of any formal crime, says Malin Sahlström, press secretary at the police, to Dagens Nyheter.