Ex-Wagner commander arrested in Norway over attempt to cross into Russia

Former commander of the Wagner mercenary group, Andrei Medvedev, who sought asylum in Norway earlier this year, has been arrested by Norwegian police over suspicions of attempting to illegally re-enter Russia, CNN reported citing the man's attorney on Saturday.

Andrei Medvedev, fled Russia after the Russian guards opened fire on him in his account of his January flight from Russia over the country's Arctic border with Norway.

He has talked about his experience fighting with the Wagner organisation in Ukraine. Police stated in a statement late on Friday that a man in his 20s had been arrested for trying to enter Russia illegally, but they did not give his identity. The identity of the individual who had been arrested was withheld by a Finnmark local police officer, reported CNN.

When he first arrived in Norway, Medvedev said he was looking for refuge because he feared for his life after seeing Russian captives who had been carried to the front lines of the Ukrainian conflict killed and treated badly.

His escape in January garnered international attention as a then-rare instance of defection to a Western nation while claiming to have participated in the Ukraine War as a mercenary for Russia, according to CNN.

Although he acknowledged that doing so may endanger his life, he stated in a YouTube video that he wanted to go back to Russia and described himself as "some kind of a boy in a big game" that he no longer wanted to be a part of.