Ingots, weapons, wigs… Russian media broadcast images on Wednesday evening July 5 of the search of the home of the leader of the paramilitary group Wagner, Evgueni Prigojine, carried out in Saint Petersburg during his attempted armed rebellion at the end of June. These images, obviously taken by law enforcement and suddenly published in several Russian public and private media, show a large and luxurious house, with a helicopter parked in the garden.
During the search, according to these images, the investigators also discovered wads of dollars and rubles, gold bars, numerous weapons, but also several passports with different names and a cupboard full of wigs. The Fontanka site, based in Saint Petersburg, also indicated that a photo with “severed heads” had been found at the home of Prigozhin, while his mercenaries are regularly accused of abuses.
Fontanka also posted a photo showing a huge mace arranged in a room in Prigozhin’s house with the message “In case of important negotiations” on its metal head. The “mace” is one of the symbols of the Wagner group, which boasts of using this weapon to savagely execute or torture its enemies.
“These images criminalize Prigojine a little more”
For Gallagher Fenwick, great reporter and author of “Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine in blood” (published by Éditions du Rocher on May 22, 2022), “there is a malicious intention on the part of the Kremlin behind the leak of these images “, the Russian media being “in the pay of power”. “These images criminalize Prigojine a little more in the eyes of the population, because we see a lot of cash, weapons, false identity papers, and a rococo lifestyle,” explains the journalist.
Another aspect underlined by the specialist: the images of the wigs found at his home “ridicule” the boss of Wagner. “Everyone imagines Prigojine walking around with one of these wigs and it’s no coincidence that so many memes have appeared with Prigojine with a wig,” he analyzes. The journalist sees in the photos taken in the residence of the sulphurous militiaman something “crazy”, falling within the “absurd”. “The place is reminiscent of the final scene of the movie Scarface,” he compares.
A “reached” side
Images of Prigojine’s home also betray, according to Gallagher Fenwick, his “upstart” side and his “desire to belong”. “He’s managed to pass a big milestone with the accumulation of his fortune as a guy who got out of jail, sold hot dogs on the sidewalk, and gradually worked his way up to end up serving the Tsar,” he recalls.
Since the Wagner Rebellion on June 24, several leading voices in Russia’s state media portray Prigozhin as a greedy businessman who lost his mind after making a fortune from years of juicy state deals . No sanctions have been announced against the mutineers, but the future of Prigozhin’s businesses, his media empire and his influence operations, both in Russia and abroad, particularly in Africa, seems uncertain.