Norwegian authorities announced today that they have released a former high-ranking member of the Russian private military company Wagner, who sought refugee status after entering the country illegally, AP reported.

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"There are no longer any reasons to detain Andrey Medvedev," Norwegian immigration police officer Jon Andreas Johansen said.

The Russian, who claimed his life would be in danger if he returned to his homeland, entered Norway illegally from Russia earlier this month and was immediately transferred to the capital Oslo under standard procedure for asylum seekers.

Vladimir Osechkin of the Russian dissident group Gulagu.net, which helped Medvedev escape, said the former Wagner fighter was kept in a safe place until at one point, without explanation, he was moved to a secure center for migrants.

The Russian's Norwegian lawyer, Brynulf Risnes, told local newspaper Dagbladet today that his client had expressed dissatisfaction with the tight security measures and was therefore detained by the police.

In a video published by "Gulagu.net", Medvedev explains that he was shot in Russia before he crossed the border with Norway.

A Wagner mercenary reveals brutal truths about the private Russian military company

Norwegian police said they were notified by Russian border guards about tracks in the snow indicating someone may have crossed the border illegally.

Norway's National Criminal Investigation Service, which is involved in the war crimes investigation in Ukraine, said it was questioning Medvedev, who has witness status.

Medvedev, who has been in hiding since defecting from "Wagner", told "Gulagu.net" that he is ready to tell everything he knows about the dubious paramilitary group and its owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a millionaire close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The man also said that he left "Wagner" after his contract, which was for the period July-November, was extended without his consent.

He expressed his willingness to testify about all the war crimes he witnessed and denied that he himself had committed them.

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