This is a translated version of an article published in Swedish 2026-05-23.
A short message appeared in a Russian-language Telegram group in France in early March: “Hey, is anyone out in Paris today?”
The sender was Andrey Medvedev, a former Wagner commander.
It caused concern and alarm among Russian exiles in the country. By all accounts, he should not have been there.
But in Paris he was. And after a short time, he sent an acquaintance a photo of himself posing outside the Foreign Legion in the city.
An Unknown Number Are in Europe
The case of Andrey Medvedev raises broader questions.
The Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin and supported by the Kremlin, emerged as a key instrument of Russian influence abroad, deploying fighters to conflicts in Syria, Mali, the Central African Republic and Ukraine. The group’s future was thrown into doubt after Prigozhin’s brief rebellion against President Vladimir Putin in 2023 and his death in a plane crash weeks later. Several Western countries have designated Wagner a terrorist organization or imposed comparable restrictions on the group.
It was known for its harsh discipline: those who failed to follow orders, or carried them out inadequately, were tortured or killed. It also stood out for its effective recruitment methods and well-developed system for enlisting new members.
Although the group has been dissolved, it appears to continue to exist in Europe in a different form. In February this year, the Financial Times, citing sources in Western intelligence services and European officials, reported that several former members are now engaged in recruiting agents in Europe to carry out sabotage.
Only four former Wagner fighters are known to be officially residing in Europe: two in France, one in the Netherlands and one in Norway. It is unknown how many are in Europe without permission.
Wagner defectors could pose a considerable security risk. But it is unclear if European governments are able to keep track of and halt their movements across the continent. Medvedev’s case suggests that authorities do not always have a clear picture of their movements.
Escaped to Norway
Andrey Medvedev’s case has drawn attention in Norway and elsewhere in Europe. After leaving the Wagner Group in 2022, he crossed into Norway from Russia in early 2023 and soon began speaking publicly about his experiences. In interviews, he said he regretted joining the group and claimed to have information about possible war crimes committed by its members.
In Åsne Seierstad’s 2025 book Ofred, Medvedev recounted his life story, from a childhood in rural Russia to his decision to enlist with Wagner, which he described as an alternative to service in the regular Russian army.
He has also appeared in Norwegian news reports because of criminal convictions. In 2024, he was sentenced to 120 days in prison for the aggravated assault of a former girlfriend. He has also been convicted on weapons-related charges, including unlawful possession of an air gun.
His position toward Russia has appeared ambiguous. In May 2023, he said he intended to return to the country.
As I began examining Medvedev’s movements, several people who know him described a fascination with graphic images of violence. One woman said he showed her a video that appeared to depict Wagner fighters killing Ukrainian soldiers. She said she did not know where the footage originated or whether it had been downloaded from the internet.
“The Ukrainian man’s final breath still rings in my ears,” she recalled. “And Andrey just laughed.”
”Kallar mig förrädare”
Medvedev is also well known in France.
The message quickly spread unease among activists and opposition figures in the city.
A Russian human rights activist saw the message and sent out warnings in every social media group she could think of, as well as to various exile organizations.
“We all thought he had come to France to stay, and we were scared,” she says.
One person who quickly perceived Andrey Medvedev’s presence in France as unsettling was Pavel Filatiev, a Russian paratrooper and former soldier who took part in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He fled Russia in the summer of 2022 and published the book ZOV about the first days of the war, which has been translated into several languages, including Swedish. Today, he lives as a political refugee in France.
Pavel Filatiev says that Andrey Medvedev has repeatedly tried to meet him. But his address is kept secret, and Pavel Filatiev did not agree to any meetings in Paris.
“I don’t know him. But he keeps trying to meet me. On top of that, he calls me a traitor,” says Pavel Filatiev.
During one video call on the 3rd of March, Andrey Medvedev called Filatiev together with another former Wagner Group officer who had been living in Paris.
“In the video they were together, so there is no doubt that Medvedev was calling from France. He asked me to come to Paris and offered to buy tickets and pay for the hotel. Why, I wonder?”
For Filatiev, Medvedev’s persistence, together with his capacity for violence and his Wagner background, is enough to raise concern.
Though he says he does not know Medvedev’s motives, he, as a defected officer, lives with a constant fear of revenge. He clearly remembers what happened to Andrey Kuzminov, the Russian pilot who hijacked a military helicopter and flew it to Ukraine as a protest against the war. He was granted asylum in Spain, where he was later shot dead by Russian security services.
“I didn’t hijack a helicopter, but there has been a lot going on around me. And I have received many threats from Russia. So I have reasons to be afraid.”
Limited residence permit
The most remarkable thing about Andrey Medvedev’s appearance in France is that he is in fact not allowed to travel around Europe freely.
The Norwegian Immigration Appeals Board denied him refugee status because, according to the board, there are “serious grounds for assuming that he has participated in war crimes.” Instead, he was granted a residence permit with restrictions. This is a form of permit that may be granted when deportation is not possible, for example because of the risk of persecution, torture or armed conflict.
The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration states that it cannot comment on Medvedev’s case and can only describe the rules in general.
“A person with a restricted residence permit does not have the right to visit other Schengen countries, and if the person leaves Norway, he or she does not have the right to re-enter,” the agency replies to my question.
“UDI can see whether a person has made legal border crossings into or out of Norway, but we do not have an overview of who is in the country at any given time.”
Crossed the Swedish border
Medvedev has already been involved in three incidents related to border crossings.
In April 2023, when he was still an asylum seeker, he travelled to Sweden, where he was arrested by Swedish police. He claimed that he had gone there to buy cigarettes.
A person who had been close to Medvedev offers a different version:
“He called me and said he was on a bus to Sweden and that we would soon see each other in Moscow. I told him off and said he shouldn’t do anything stupid. But he didn’t listen.”
In May of the same year, he announced that he intended to return to Russia and approached the Russian embassy in Oslo for help with this. The Russian embassy in Norway confirmed that he had visited the consular section. Later, he explained that he had changed his mind. But in September that year, he was arrested while trying to cross the border and enter Russia. He said that he feared possible extradition to Ukraine and considered returning to Russia a safer alternative.
”Musician”
How easy is it for a person like Medvedev, who is considered ineligible for asylum, to move freely around Europe?
I trace some of Medvedev’s recent movements in Europe through the messages he leaves in Russian-language Telegram channels, perhaps believing that the Norwegian police and migration authorities would never see them. I also contact people in these cities who have been in touch with him.
On 28 February, he writes in a group for Russian speakers in Denmark: “Hi everyone, just arrived in Copenhagen from Oslo. Anyone want to meet up and have a beer?”
On 10 March he is looking for company in Paris. After that, his messages reveal that he travels to Nice, where, according to two sources, he meets another former Wagner Group mercenary. In a local group for Russian speakers, he writes on 24 March: “Hi, I’m in Nice and new here — anyone want to have a beer, talk and show me the city?”
A taxi driver from Nice confirms to me that Andrey Medvedev called and tried to book a car.
“He wanted me to pick up his friend at the station and drive him to him. Some man from the theatre or the opera, like a singer or musician.”
A musician from an orchestra?
“Yes, yes, exactly!”
“Musicians” and “orchestra” are well-known nicknames for mercenaries from the Wagner Group.
The taxi driver is Ukrainian, and it is only through me that he learns, to his surprise, that he had spoken with a Wagner soldier and that it was not a real musician at all.
Filatiev: “I Have Been Called in to Talk”
Just a few days later, Medvedev says he is in yet another country. On 30 March, his message appears in another group: “Hi everyone, I’m passing through Switzerland and am currently in the area around Estavayer. Unfortunately, the car has broken down, so I’m a bit stranded. Any help is appreciated …”
In April, he suddenly shows up in a small town near Switzerland, not far from the place where Pavel Filatiev is living incognito.
When Pavel Filatiev learns about this, he goes straight to a police station. He says Medvedev’s presence raised immediate alarm.
“Now I feel very worried. I can understand why he went to Nice or Paris — big cities, where he can find his former comrades from Wagner, entertainment, girls. But why did he come here, to a small village where there is nothing … except me?” he wonders.
Both Filatiev and the Russian human rights activist who once helped get Medvedev out of Russia say that the French security service is interested in the former mercenary.
“I have been called in several times to talk about him. When I found out that he had turned up in France, I went straight to them. But I don’t know whether they are looking for him or not,” says Filatiev.
Andrey Medvedev is not formally registered as having moved out of Norway, but according to SvD’s sources, he no longer lives at his previous address, where he lived for a month together with Lithuanian carpenters.
After I begin investigating Andrey Medvedev’s travels in early April and send a letter to his lawyer, Medvedev stops posting anything on social media. This makes it impossible to track his movements.
He does not answer my phone calls or messages, but blocks me. His lawyer does not respond to my emails, messages or phone calls either.
I ask the Norwegian security service, the Police Security Service, whether they know about Medvedev’s trips to France and his current whereabouts. Martin Bernsen, senior adviser at the Police Security Service, offers a brief reply: “I cannot provide information about private individuals.”
I have spoken to two people who met Andrey Medvedev in France in March: in Paris and in Nice. They confirm that they met and spoke with him, but have asked to remain anonymous. Medvedev told them that he planned to enlist in the Foreign Legion.
Under current circumstances, the Foreign Legion is no longer accepting Russian or Ukrainian citizens, and for the time being will also not admit soldiers or mercenaries who have taken part in the war between the two countries.
The Foreign Legion has not replied to my question about whether the former Wagner soldier Andrey Medvedev has tried to enlist in its ranks.
“What stands out about this case is that there is no reporting obligation,” says Johan Huovinen, lieutenant colonel and lecturer at the Swedish Defence University.
“It should be natural that someone must report to the police, for example once a week or every two weeks. That appears to be lacking in Norway. Such an obligation would make it significantly more difficult to carry out longer journeys, such as the ones he has evidently made.”
It remains unclear what Medvedev actually wants, but his behaviour shows that he has learned to move more carefully and to get from place to place, he says.
“All of this poses security risks, because he is seeking contact with others who have previously served in Wagner, which suggests that he is trying to maintain some form of network.”
Suddenly, Andrey Medvedev calls me, two weeks after I began trying to reach him.
“My lawyer said that you had written to him. He asked: ‘What is she talking about?’ I said: ‘No idea.’”
When I ask what he is doing in France, he just laughs.
“That’s far away — how would I be able to get there? I can’t even leave Norway,” he says.
Why did you write, then, that you were in Paris?
“Who told you that?”
I saw the message myself.
“Then I must have been hacked.”
You are talking to me now from the same number the message was posted from.
“I think someone from the FSB is behind it. They want to discredit me. You know how the security service works. And if you cooperate with them, your career will quickly come to an end.”
What do you mean?
“In the sense that you are spreading fear among people.”
But how is it, then, that several people have seen you in France?
“Then it’s a lie — then you work for the FSB. To destabilize my migration situation.”
A few minutes later, he calls again — and this time he speaks more emotionally and with greater agitation.
“Tell your source that he is wasting his time trying to smear me. He works for the FSB.”
He is referring to one of the former Wagner officers I have spoken to. The FSB is the Russian security service.
“I am in Norway! You can call the Norwegian police and ask.”
In response to all my questions, he now suggests that I should speak to his lawyer.
But the lawyer does not answer my emails or phone calls. And the police do not comment on individual cases.
A few days after our conversation, I receive further confirmation from a source that he is in France.
The Norwegian police have not answered my questions about whether they know about Medvedev’s travels outside Norway, or whether they even know where he is today. It is also unclear whether the Norwegian or French security services have control (are able to restrict his movements) over his movements.
Medvedev has been given the opportunity to respond to the allegations made against him by, among others, Pavel Filatiev, but he has not replied.
The last indication that he was in France was on the 5th of May.