Wigs, weapons and gold bars discovered by Russian safety companies in raid of Wagner boss Prigozhin’s St Petersburg palace

The St Petersburg palace of Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has been raided by Russian safety companies.

The FSB says it discovered weapons, ammunition, gold bars, a stuffed alligator and a cabinet filled with wigs on the opulent residence the mercenary chief was pressured to desert after his aborted coup try final month.

The pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia revealed pictures and video of the raid yesterday, which additionally turned up apparently pretend passports and a framed picture allegedly exhibiting the severed heads of Prigozhin’s enemies.

Ukraine war latest: Prigozhin not in Belarus, says Lukashenko

Details of the raid emerged as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated the Wagner chief was not in Belarus.

Mr Lukasheno – who brokered a deal which noticed Prigozhin, who was generally known as “Putin’s chef”, call-off the riot and depart Russia for Belarus – stated on 27 June that the exiled chief had arrived in his nation.

However, he instructed journalists at a news convention on Thursday that Prigozhin continues to be in Russia and “may” be in St Petersburg or Moscow – whereas his troops stay of their camps.

There has been a lot hypothesis in latest weeks concerning Prigozhin’s whereabouts, with the mercenary chief not being seen in public for the reason that mutiny.

Pictures of his lavish dwelling additionally confirmed a grand piano on the base of a spiral marble staircase, in addition to a spa and sauna space, and personal indoor swimming pool.

An outsized sledgehammer inscribed with the phrases “for use in important negotiations” was additionally displayed in what seems to be the billiards room.

There additionally gave the impression to be a personal prayer room, adorned with a number of non secular icons from the Russian Orthodox Church.

Huge quantities of money in numerous currencies had been found on the residence, the FSB stated, as was a army uniform replete with round two dozen medals.

Prigozhin was thought to have been in Belarus since 24 June after he led the failed mutiny towards the Kremlin which noticed his Wagner mercenaries march on Moscow.

Large numbers of Wagner fighters had been stated to have additionally been absorbed into the Russian army as a part of the settlement overseen by Mr Lukashenko to finish the stand-off.

Prigozhin launched a press release within the aftermath detailing why he started his “march for justice”.

“We started our march because of an injustice,” he stated.

Explaining why the advance was deserted, Prigozhin stated he didn’t wish to shed Russian blood – and insisted that he had no intention of overthrowing the federal government.

He added: “We have shown the level of organisation that an army must meet.”

Read extra:
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The former hot dog seller who became Wagner boss at centre of mutiny

Describing the second he determined to order his fighters to halt their advance on Moscow, Prigozhin stated: “We felt that the demonstration of what we were going to do was enough.

“And our choice to show again was influenced by two most necessary elements.

“The first factor was that we did not want to shed Russian blood,” Prigozhin continued.

“The second factor was that we were going for a demonstration of our protest, not to overthrow the government in the country.”

Meanwhile, an ex-CIA director has stated the rebellion created a “once-in-a-generation” alternative for the US to recruit spies in Russia.

William Burns stated the aborted mutiny was a problem to the Russian state that confirmed the corrosive impact of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warfare in Ukraine.

Speaking at a lecture to the Ditchley Foundation – a charity targeted on British-American relations – Mr Burns stated dissatisfaction with the warfare was making a uncommon alternative to recruit spies, which the CIA was capitalising on.