Severed heads, wigs and alligators: Inside Prigozhin’s St Petersburg mansion raided by Putin’s goons after Wagner chief’s failed coup – two months before his plane crashed
DAILY MAIL
Two months before the plane crash that killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin had his goons raid the Wagner chief’s mansion in Russia.
Investigators searched Prigozhin’s property in St Petersburg on June 24 this year after the Wagner chief’s failed mutiny against Russia’s defence ministry.
During their raid, Putin’s officers discovered huge caches of assault weapons and ammunition, stashes of gold bars, a stuffed alligator and a framed photo which is purported to show the severed heads of the exiled private military leader’s enemies.
State media also leaked images that appeared to show the Wagner chief wearing a set of laughable disguises that he reportedly wore in Africa and the Middle East as he furthered Putin’s interests and deployed Wagner forces.
Prigozhin, known as Putin’s chef and with longstanding links to the Kremlin dictator, has long been thought to be a prime target for Russian authorities after his uprising failed and he was exiled to Belarus.
Russian officials yesterday claimed that Prigozhin was on an ill-fated plane which crashed in a field north of Moscow, killing all ten onboard, two months after his failed coup attempt against Putin’s regime.
Images leaked by Russian media in July showed Putin’s officers rifling through the Wagner chief’s house.
A giant sledgehammer with the inscription ‘For use in important negotiations’ was photographed on display near a snooker table in a reception room of the mansion.
A large number of boxes containing Russian bank notes worth around £86million (10billion rubles) were also seized in raids on Prigozhin’s estate, which includes his office building.
Russian media reports that the money and equipment have since been returned to the office and the Wagner Centre.
Among the private military leader’s valuable possessions photographed in his luxurious palace home was a Russian military uniform decorated with around two dozen medals.
Also on display in his lavish home was what appears to be a stuffed alligator on a table.
Several passports were found and photographed.
Video shows officers armed with assault rifles searching through his home and offices.
Photos also revealed the luxury Prigozhin lived in, revealing his private swimming pool, helipad, sauna, gym and a medical office.
The house also appeared to have its own private prayer room, full of religious imagery.
