More now on Andrey Medvedev, the alleged former commander with the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, who is seeking asylum in Norway.
Rights group Gulagu.net, which advocates for prisoners in Russian detention, has published interviews with Medvedev, including one after his crossing into Norway, where he detailed his dramatic escape.
“When I was on the ice [at the border], I heard dogs barking, I turned around, I saw people with torches, about 150 metres (500ft) away, running in my direction,” Medvedev says in one video. “I heard two shots, the bullets whizzed by.”
According to Gulagu.net, Medvedev originally signed a four-month contract with Wagner in early July 2022 and claims to have witnessed executions and reprisals against those who refused to fight and wanted to leave.
An alleged former commander with the Russian mercenary Wagner Group has sought asylum in Norway, authorities say, after deserting the organisation that has played a central role in some of the major battles of the Ukraine conflict.
Andrey Medvedev, 26, reportedly crossed the border into Norway near the Pasvikdalen valley shortly before 2am last Friday, where he was arrested and detained by border guards.
The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) confirmed to the Associated Press that Andrey Medvedev sought shelter in the country but “for reasons of security and privacy … cannot comment further on this matter”.
Police, who did not confirm his identity, said in a statement to Agence France-Presse that a man was “detained by Norwegian border guards and Norwegian police at 1.58am (0058 GMT)” on Friday morning.
“He has applied for asylum in Norway,” said Tarjei Sirma-Tellefsen, chief of staff for the police in Finnmark, northern Norway
More than 7,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbour last February, the Office of the UN high commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Monday.
“Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects, including shelling from heavy artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, missiles and airstrikes,” an OHCHR statement said.
The UN rights office said it had confirmed 7,031 civilian deaths but believes actual casualty tolls are “considerably higher” given the pending corroboration of many reports and the inaccessibility of areas where intense fighting is taking place.
Most of the recorded civilian deaths occurred in government-held areas of Ukraine - 6,536 compared with 495 recorded in Russian-held areas. OHCHR did not attribute responsibility for the deaths.
Ukraine says the numbers of civilians killed could run into the tens of thousands. Both countries deny targeting civilians.
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children”.
Russia carried out two mass rocket strikes on Ukraine on Saturday, devastating an apartment block in the south-central city of Dnipro, where at least 40 people have died and scores were injured. Dozens are still missing, city official Gennadiy Korban wrote on Telegram on Monday. 75 people were wounded in the strike, including 14 children, he said. The victims from the attack included a 15-year-old girl, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his latest nightly address.
Russia and Belarus began joint air force drills this morning, triggering fears in Kyiv and the west that Moscow could use its ally to launch a new ground offensive in Ukraine. According to a statement published to the Telegram account of the Belarus ministry of defence, units from Russia’s aerospace forces arrived at the airfields of Belarus late on Sunday night. Shortly after 8am local time the ministry said the planned combat training tasks had begun.
Russia launched an attack on Ukraine’s south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, wounding civilians and destroying residential infrastructure, according to regional officials. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of the president of Ukraine, said “The occupiers launched a rocket attack on the regional centre. The rocket hit next to a five-story building. Five people, including two children aged nine and 15, were injured by glass fragments. The children were hospitalised.”
President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke by phone on Monday where they discussed the conflict in Ukraine, according to readouts of the call from both sides. The pair discussed the question of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, the Kremlin said, as well as the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports and ways to unblock fertiliser and food exports from Russia.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said Ukraine could expect more deliveries of heavy weapons from western countries soon. Western allies will consider sending battle tanks to Kyiv ahead of a meeting in Ramstein in Germany on Friday, where governments are expected to announce their latest pledges of military support.
A Russian man who reportedly fought for the private mercenary Wagner group has crossed into Norway and requested political asylum, according to Norwegian authorities. Andrey Medvedev, who reportedly served as a high-ranking Wagner group member, has sought shelter in Norway, authorities confirmed to the Associated Press.