It is called Europe’s forgotten war.
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And was a magnet for one type of alien warrior in particular.
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For half a century, right-wing extremists have been looking for a war to train in.
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A-magazine has met Norway’s unknown foreign fighters.
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He stands wide-legged in front of the burning corpse, as in triumph.
The photo was taken on a beautiful September day. The sun is shining, the gray asphalt road is surrounded by grass and green trees. In front of the trees, black smoke billows from a vehicle on fire. Closer to the camera, at the roadside, lies a half-charred human body on his stomach.
The man posing for the dead is in full combat gear. He has dark sunglasses, a light goatee and his arms are covered in tattoos. In his hands rests a heavy machine gun.
–– I can tell more about that picture, says Yan Petrovskiy (34) in fluent Norwegian.
He was one of the leaders in the war in eastern Ukraine. On far-right online forums, he became known as a ruthless warrior.
A-magazine met him at a restaurant in St. Petersburg earlier this year. The beard was cut shorter, but the tattoos were the same. With blond hair, blue eyes and neutral clothes, he could have gone for any Norwegian or Russian.
But Yan Petrovskiy had a well-trained friend and a gun on his hip.
What drew him to a bloody war, with a will to kill?
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