US official hints that Prigozhin’s banishment was hoax
Following resurfacing of Russian warlord, Yevgeny Prigozhin, shortly after his purported exile to Belarus and the return of his seized property by the Russian secret service; the American intelligence teams are wondering if the Wagner boss ever went to Belarus in the first place.
They also wonder if any of the Wagner soldiers every stepped a foot in the desert camp offered the private military company as exile camp by Belarusian ruler, Aleksander Lukashenko.
The revelation that the defiant Prigozhin proved too difficult for President Vladimir Putin to handle emerged after Russian authorities failed to arrest him when he attempted to topple the government, forcing President Putin to flee Moscow.
Before embarking on the rebellion, Prigozhin had in a televised video broadcast announced that he had over 25,000 war hardened fighters behind him. And after he backed down from the rebellion, he was still seen around driving in SUVs and flying choppers without ever being arrested by the security forces.
None of his loyal mercenary fighter was arrested for the rebellion. Instead, they were allowed to go on exile in neighboring Belarus where Lukashenko offered them a disused military camp for habitation.
This weekend, a US official told media sources that Prigozhin may not have gone to Belarus at all — and may have used a body double to make it appear as though he fled Russia.
During the raid at his mansions, the authorities had discovered several wigs and other facial disguise items obviously stored for covert operations. Prigozhin was a reputed Putin’s loyal hit-man!
Prigozhin who was exiled to Belarus last month after staging an armed rebellion sparked confusion in the week when he reappeared in St. Petersburg. And a Pentagon official told The New York Times it appears Prigozhin has mostly been in Russia — Moscow or St. Petersburg — for most of the time since the mutiny. The official also said it was unclear if Prigozhin ever went to Belarus, noting he is believed to employ body doubles.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who took credit for brokering the deal that ended the revolt and Prigozhin’s exile, confirmed on Thursday that the Wagner boss was already back in Russia.
An unnamed Pentagon official also said it did not appear any Wagner troops were in Belarus and that most were still at bases in eastern Ukraine. Lukashenko also told reporters Thursday that it was unclear if the Wagner fighters would come to Belarus after he previously offered them a desert military base.
Flight-tracking data shows a private jet linked to Prigozhin flew from St. Petersburg to Moscow on Wednesday, and was continuing to move around the country Thursday, although it’s not known if he was aboard.
Lukashenko says Prigozhin is a free man and added that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin won’t “wipe him out.” The Kremlin says they aren’t following his movements but confirmed that his exile was part of the deal.
If Prigozhin is allowed to return to Russia with impunity, it would raise new questions about Putin’s authority in the wake of the mutiny. He said last week that Russia is more united than ever, according to an analysis by a Ukrainian news outlet.
Russia’s state television reported that an investigation into the mutiny was still ongoing, attacking Prigozhin with a report looking at his luxurious residence, showing an arms cache, personal helicopter, cash, and other items. The host of the show, a lawmaker, called him a traitor.
The status of his mercenaries is also unknown. Lukashenko says the question of Wagner units relocating to Belarus hasn’t been resolved, and would depend on decisions by Moscow and the mercenaries.
