Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner company, has been seen wearing a variety of odd disguises after Russian security authorities raided his St. Petersburg mansion and discovered a wardrobe full of wigs.
In addition, FSB agents discovered a stuffed alligator, fake beards, falsified passports, firearms and ammo, a sledgehammer, gold bars, and a framed image supposedly depicting the decapitated heads of his adversaries.
The pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia, whose parent firm is run by Vladimir Putin’s long-rumored ex-gym mate Alina Kabaeva, then leaked and published photos of the raid.
The revelations are seen as a direct attempt to humiliate the ‘treacherous’ mercenary boss after Prigozhin led his guns for hire on what appeared to be an insurrection aimed at toppling the regime.
He later backed down, insisting his ‘march for justice’ was not a military coup, and was exiled to Belarus as part of a deal brokered by its strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko.
Prigozhin has not been seen since landing in Belarus on June 24 and reports suggest the Wagner boss has been travelling to and from Russia to collect an arsenal of weapons.
Lukashenko confirmed on Thursday he ‘may’ still be in Moscow or St Petersburg.
A Russian state TV channel attacked the mercenary chief and claimed the investigation into his rebellion for treason – closed as part of the deal ending the uprising – is still active.
Narrating footage of the raid, Rossiya-1 TV reporter Eduard Petrov called Prigozhin a hypocrite over his corruption allegations against the military leadership.
‘Nobody planned to close this case. The investigation is ongoing,’ Mr Petrov said.
‘We need to get to the bottom of who was on whose side [of the mutiny], we need to punish and prosecute them.’
Photos of Prigozhin donning the disguises show him posing as an employee of Sudan’s defence ministry, a diplomat from Abu Dhabi, and a senior Libyan lieutenant.
He also dressed up as a colonel from Tripoli, a ‘merchant from Syria’, and a field commander named Mohammed.
Security services also found a giant sledgehammer inscribed with the words ‘for use in important negotiations’ on display in a reception room.
Last November, footage posted to Telegram purportedly showed a former mercenary being executed with a sledgehammer blow to the head for defecting.
Prigozhin later sent a sledgehammer smeared in fake blood to the European Parliament after the Wagner Group was added to its terrorist list.