Vladimir Putin has humiliated Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin after his failed uprising in Russia by sending security forces to search his palace in St. Petersburg.
The pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia yesterday published photos and videos of armed officers searching Prigozhin’s mansion while he was in exile in Belarus on June 24.
Investigators uncovered huge caches of assault weapons and ammunition, stashes of gold bullion, a stuffed alligator and a framed photograph said to show the severed heads of the exiled private military leader’s enemies.
Also visible in the pictures from the raid is a large closet containing many different wigs of different styles and colors, from gray to mousy brown.
A series of photos purportedly showing Prigozhin wearing the wigs as part of various disguises have been leaked to Russian state-sponsored Telegram channels.
The quality of some of the disguises is ridiculous, prompting speculation they may have been tampered with to further discredit the Wagner boss.
However, Prigozhin’s supporters said sharing the images might violate Russia’s strict national security laws, suggesting that the oligarch acted as a state agent given Wagner’s ties to Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency.
This comes after the warlord launched what appeared to be an armed uprising against Putin less than two weeks ago – which was soon halted after Minsk helped negotiate a deal to end the conflict.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko today claimed Prigozhin has returned to St. Petersburg – although the whereabouts of the Wagner boss remain unknown and many of his fighters have set up camps on Belarusian soil.
Vladimir Putin has humiliated Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin (pictured) after his failed uprising in Russia by sending security forces to search his palace in St Petersburg
Inside his luxurious home was what appeared to be a stuffed alligator on a dresser table
A framed photo allegedly showing the severed heads of enemies of exiled private military leader Prigozhin
Huge caches of weapons, including assault rifles and cartridges for them, were found by security services in the Wagner founder’s house
At the base of the luxurious staircase is a grand piano
During the raid, police discovered a large closet containing many different styles and colors of wigs, from gray to mousy
Prigozhin’s extravagant palace has its own spa and sauna area
It is alleged that billionaire Prigozhin used the disguises in Africa and the Middle East to further Putin’s interests and deploy Wagner troops.
Although the Wagner Group officially operates as a private company, several of the people involved in its formation are affiliated with the GRU.
One disguise shows him as a Defense Ministry employee in Sudan, while another disguises him as an auxiliary diplomat from Abu Dhabi. Other disguises depict him as various military figures from Libya.
Telegram channel Trinadtsatiy said: “The backbone of the Wagner PMC consists of people from the GRU, and they are not stupid.”
‘Such [disguises] is needed for the work in the neighboring countries and it is indeed operational information.’
Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko said: “These are not footage from an audition for a role in a cheap comedy, but a selfie of Prigozhin.”
“The images were released by the Russian security forces.
“In most of the pictures yesterday’s ‘Hero of Russia’ wears a Libyan uniform with Libyan epaulets and conspiracy elements.”
The purpose of the leak was to discredit Prigozhin, “who crushed objectionable people with a sledgehammer, condoned torture and violence at the front lines, but failed in his Moscow trip” during the armed uprising aimed at killing Putin’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to fall.
A series of photos purportedly showing Prigozhin wearing the wigs as part of various disguises have been leaked to Russian state-sponsored Telegram channels
Prigozhin’s supporters say he may have worked as a state agent and sharing these images violates Russian security laws
Allegedly, Prigozhin can be seen in various disguises in these leaked images to Telegram
A giant sledgehammer marked “For Use in Important Negotiations” was displayed in a reception room of the mansion next to a pool table.
Raids on Prigozhin’s property, which included his office building, also seized scores of boxes containing around £86 million (10 billion rubles) worth of Russian banknotes.
Russian media reports that the money and equipment have since been returned to the office and the Wagner Center.
Among the private military leader’s prized possessions, photographed in his luxurious palace home, was a Russian military uniform adorned with around two dozen medals.
Also featured in his luxurious home was what appeared to be a stuffed alligator on a dresser table.
Several passports were also found and photographed in Prigozhin’s house.
The video shows officers armed with assault rifles searching his home and offices.
Photos also revealed the vast luxury in which Prigozhin lived, revealing his private swimming pool, helipad, sauna, gym and a doctor’s office.
The house also appears to have its own private prayer room filled with religious imagery.
In his first comments since his exile earlier this week, the Wagner boss vowed his fighters would soon win “new victories” as images of the mercenaries’ new camp in Belarus emerged.
Russian security services search the home and offices of exiled Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin
Huge caches of weapons were found by the police at the Wagner Führer’s estate
Gold bars were among the riches that police found in Prigozhin’s mansion
A giant sledgehammer marked “For Use in Important Negotiations” was displayed in a reception room of the mansion next to a pool table
Prigozhin’s private pool in his huge St. Petersburg palace, complete with tiny water slide
A lavish reception area of Prigozhin’s home captured on video by Russian security services
The house also appears to have its own private prayer room filled with religious imagery
An elevated view of a spacious living area of the mansion, complete with cinema TV on the left wall
Among the private military leader’s prized possessions, photographed in his luxurious palace home, was a Russian military uniform adorned with around two dozen medals
Huge amounts of cash in various currencies were found in Prigozhin’s offices, reportedly amounting to around £86 million (10 billion rubles).
Several passports were also found and photographed in Prigozhin’s house.
“Our march of justice was aimed at fighting traitors and mobilizing society,” Prigozhin said in a short audio message posted on Tuesday on the Wagner-affiliated Greyzone Telegram channel.
“And I think we’ve succeeded in many of those things.” “I’m sure you’ll see our next victories at the front in the near future.”
Prigozhin gave no indication of his whereabouts, and since the clip is an audio recording, it is a departure from his typical video messages that had become his typical way of addressing his troops before their failed mutiny attempt on April 24. to turn June.
Since the failed uprising, Prigozhin — a figure once hugely popular with Russians — has all but disappeared from public discord.
Russian state media, which once praised him and his fighters for their brutal, tough election campaign in Ukraine, criticized him for his alleged betrayal of President Putin and has since stopped broadcasting news about the Wagner group and Prigozhin’s predicament.
Yevgeny Prigozhin (left) assists Vladimir Putin at a dinner (centre) with foreign scientists and journalists at the Cheval Blanc restaurant on the grounds of an equestrian complex outside Moscow in November 2011
These are the first images to emerge of the Wagner mercenary army’s new base in autocratic neighboring Belarus. Huge tents were erected as barracks for the armed forces staging an uprising against Putin’s regime