– As far as I know, no one has managed this in winter in modern times.
In The Independent Parents Observer, editor Thomas Nilsson said it was almost impossible for Andrej Medvedev to cross the border into Norway, where Wagner left.
Supervised
The border from Murmansk to Kirkenes is about 20 miles long and is strictly guarded and monitored.
– FSB is the Russian Border Guard. They have systems to pick up mobile phone signals from everyone who enters the area, Nilsson explains.
Border Guard: The Russian security service FSB is responsible for border guarding. Two FSB guards are on duty in Kola. Photo: Russian authorities
People who do not live in the border area or do not have a residence permit when they enter with a mobile phone immediately appear on the surveillance of the border guards, he continues.
– The area has barbed wire fences, electric alarms, night vision cameras and several border guards. They are now more vigilant, says Nilsson.
What is remarkable is that he managed it in the winter in the most protected part of the border, close to the town of Nickel, and in the area of Skroydnes/Svanvik in Pasvikdalen, says the author.
– People in the borderlands talk about how Andrej Medvedev coped. First entering Norway’s border area, then jumping over a barbed wire fence and over a small forest before reaching Pasvikelva, Nilsson tells TV 2.
The border crossing took place in a very open area, in the middle of the thickest part of the river. According to Lt. Hanne Beverley at Baswick, it is Have to walk several hundred meters Over the river.
Open: The Norwegian-Russian border passes through Svanevatn in Pasvikelva. Photo: Od Arne Hartvikson / TV2
Kripos began interrogating Medvedev. Grybos is participating in an international investigation into war crimes committed in Ukraine at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
– Medvedev is tired, but still willing to share information, his lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told NTB on Saturday.
Risnes could not go into detail about what was said at the hearing, but confirmed that the topics will be his service on the Wagner team.
– Scares people
Thomas Nilsson also hopes the fugitive will be questioned about the border crossing that took place on the night of Friday, January 13.
– Norway would be very interested to know how he actually crossed the border, says the author:
- Was Medvedev only helped by someone in Murmansk who drove him to the border?
- Or could others on the inside, such as the FSB’s border guards, have staged this and sent him to Norway as a provocation?
– Is it possible to only drive within the border area outside of the nickel? It scares people. Thomas Nilsson tells TV2 that people are wondering if this is the first of many departures.
Unrest: The Departed story causes unrest in Kirkenes. Photo: Od Arne Hartvikson / TV2
On the Russian side, Medvedev’s departure was mentioned in the news and shared on social media.
– This may prompt others on the Russian side to try the same, says Thomas Nilsson.
– A slaughter bench
He says thousands of soldiers from the 200th Motorized Regiment in Pechenga and others from the Kola Peninsula have been sent to fight in Ukraine.
– Ordinary Russian people know that the war in Ukraine is a massacre, and now ordinary people who are not soldiers are being mobilized. There are many rumors on the Russian side that there will be a large-scale mobilization in January, Nilsson says.
In the border municipality of Sør-Varanger, fear that some will try to escape, he says, sees Norway as a last resort.
– This is the most dangerous escape from Russia. It’s still somewhat pitch black here for most of the day, cold and deep in the snow and Russian border guards have reportedly opened fire on those who try, Thomas Nilsson tells TV 2.
Watch out: Norwegian border hunters patrol the border with Russia. Photo: Od Arne Hartvikson / TV2
Unable to confirm shot solution
Wagner Mercenary said Gulaku.net Russian border guards sent dogs after him and shot him.
– The bullets went near me. “I threw the phone into the forest and I started running across the snow in the direction of the lights from some houses on the other side,” Medvedev says in the video.
TV 2 has asked the police in Finnmark if they have clarified that the shooting was carried out, as Wagner claims was wrong. But they did not have any information suggesting cross-border firing.
– That is his version and experience, he might have experienced such a situation. “We can’t take that away from him,” police chief Ellen Kathryn Hedda tells TV2.
Border Commissioner Jens-Arne Hoyland could neither confirm nor deny Medvedev’s claims.
– But as far as we can see, no shots have been fired at the border, says Hoylund iFinnmark.
TV 2 asked Medvedev’s lawyer Brynjulf Rysnes for comment on the statements of the police chief and the border commissioner, but our inquiries did not receive a response.
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