- Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is in Russia lower than 2 weeks after his mutiny, in line with studies.
- An unbiased Russian information outlet stated Prigozhin retrieved his belongings that had been seized by the federal government.
- Among the many weapons he reclaimed was an honorary pistol given to him by Russia’s protection minister.
Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is gathering his prized — and poached — possessions in Russia, lower than two weeks after he staged a surprising rebellion in opposition to Russia’s protection ministry, in line with media studies.
Prigozhin final month led 1000’s of Wagner troops-for-hire in an armed revolt in opposition to the Russian army in probably the most important risk to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s energy in a long time. After months of castigating Russian army leaders, together with Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu, Prigozhin set about attempting to depose them.
After hours of marching, Prigozhin finally turned his forces again saying he wished to keep away from bloodshed. The Kremlin finally agreed to drop felony costs in opposition to the one-time Putin ally in alternate for his exile to neighboring Belarus.
However the specifics of that tenuous peace deal are much more unclear this week after Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko stated Thursday that Prigozhin was not in his nation, immediately contradicting his earlier statements on the matter.
Lukashenko stated days after the mutiny that Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus, however the dictatorial chief stated this week that the Wagner chief was in his native metropolis of St. Petersburg on Thursday. Prigozhin has not been seen in public because the rebellion.
Impartial Russian information outlet Fontanka reported that Prigozhin was again in St. Petersburg early this week and The Washington Publish cited a businessman within the Russian metropolis who stated the identical.
Reported St. Petersburg sightings of Prigozhin come as Russian pro-Kremlin media outlet Izvestia this week shared pictures it claimed to have obtained of Prigozhin’s dwelling throughout a raid performed by Russian safety forces. The photographs, which haven’t been independently verified by Insider, present a big assortment of weapons, a shelf of wigs, and piles of gold bars and money.
Based on The New York Occasions, Fontanka reported Prigozhin was in St. Petersburg earlier this week to gather the weapons that Russian authorities took from his home throughout the rebellion. Based on the outlet, Prigozhin arrived on the metropolis’s Federal Safety Companies constructing in a BMW in the midst of the night time on Tuesday the place he was given a number of computerized rifles and pistols that authorities took from his cottage dwelling.
Among the many treasures Prigozhin reportedly recovered was an honorary Glock pistol that had beforehand been given to him by Shoigu — the very protection official Prigozhin sought to oust — earlier than the lads’s relationship soured.
“It is not the tip of Prigozhin,” the unnamed St. Petersburg businessman advised The Publish on Wednesday. “They returned all his cash to him. Greater than this, right this moment they even gave again to him his honorary pistol, the Glock, and one other weapon. He got here to take it himself.”
An nameless Pentagon official advised The Occasions that Prigozhin had been between Moscow and St. Petersburg throughout more often than not because the revolt. It stays unclear if he ever even went to Belarus, the official stated, as a result of he has been identified to make use of physique doubles.
