Since the failed uprising last June, Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, has spent his short life between Belarus, Saint Petersburg and an undisclosed location in Africa. In the former Soviet republic, the leader of the Wagners established his first, apparently fictitious, residence after the agreement with the Kremlin that forced him into exile.
There, protected by the country’s president and his personal friend, Alexander LukashenkoPrigozhin intended to lay the foundations for a new mercenary battalion, in which both former members not accepted by the Russian army and newcomers would be placed under the orders of the host country. Belarus intended to follow the Russian example and add a group of paid mercenaries to its armed forces to take on some sensitive operations.
The arrival of Yevgeny Prigozhin and his men was a unique opportunity for President Lukashenko, who has never acknowledged his country’s involvement in the war in Ukraine but has reiterated that this former republic could at any time find itself in armed conflict with some Western countries. It was Lukashenko himself who revealed last month that he had dampened sentiment in Wagner’s hard core by not allowing them to cross from Belarus to neighboring Poland, the place the new Wagner group chose to start a military attack.
It is known that Prigozhin’s exile in Belarus was more theoretical than practical, as the oligarch frequently visited St. Petersburg, his hometown and the place where he began accumulating the fortune that gave him so much power. There he owned an impressive mansion, which was also searched by the Russian security forces. These images can be seen on the retinas of many Russians Wigs, costumes and millions of rubles found in their closets. He did not respond to the raid on his home, but considered it an initial piece of news that prompted him to send his family out of Russia, presumably to someplace on the European continent.
During the recent Russia-Africa summit, held in the capital of the tsars last month, Prigozhin made another public appearance and uploaded photos with some Leaders of African countries where the Wagner Group continued to operate. The scene of these meetings was none other than the luxurious hotel he still maintained in Russia’s second largest city.
president Wladimir Putin After the June riots, he never made up his mind about his former friend, but voices close to the Kremlin expressed how little mercy the Russian leader found, knowing he was the culprit of this failed rebellion He moved across the land like a fish in water. Although it is known that Putin and Prigozhin met days after those fateful days, according to information that appeared in the press and was confirmed by the Kremlin spokesman himself, Dmitry Peskov.
His last pictures
The latest pictures of the former boss of the Wagners appeared this week in a video posted on his social networks, in which he appeared somewhere in Africa, in military clothes and with an assault rifle.
The mercenary-turned catering businessman, who then became one of President Putin’s best friends, explained in the video they will be making “Biggest Russia on all continents”.