The Russian press has published a video showing the search of the home of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner PMC mercenaries, images that show the luxury in which he lived, as well as the apparent paranoia of the former “cook” of President Vladimir Putin.

The image was published on Wednesday evening by Russia’s oldest daily newspaper Izvestia, with the journalists of this publication writing only that they had “received” the footage of the search of Prigozhin’s house.

“Izvestia” notes that the searches took place on July 4, and 10 billion rubles ($107 million) were found at the home of the head of the mercenaries of the “Wagner” PMC, which were allegedly “returned” to the Wagner center in St. Petersburg.

In some pictures, only the luxury of Prigozhin’s house can be seen, surprisingly, it was equipped with a sauna, a jacuzzi and an indoor pool.

Others, however, border on the surreal, showing how Wagner’s mercenary boss had rooms “upholstered” in icons, and in others he had what appeared to be a veritable arsenal of weapons.

Gold bars, securities and an infirmary in Prigozhin’s house

Other images show gold bars and securities kept in bags around the house, a uniform with all the medals Prigozhin received from the Russian state, what appears to be a makeshift private infirmary and, perhaps strangest of all, a collection of wigs.

Russian investigators also found fake passports, boxes of cash, assault weapons and boxes of ammunition in the bedroom of mercenary leader Wagner, who took refuge in Belarus after abandoning the military uprising he launched on the night of June 23-24.

However, it is possible that some of these objects were “planted” by Russian investigators to humiliate the head of the “Wagnerians” in the context of his unprecedented challenge to the power of President Vladimir Putin.

“Izvestia” does not specify the context in which these searches were conducted, given that on June 27, the SBU announced the closure of the armed mutiny case against Prigozhin and the “Wagner” mercenary group created by him in 2014.

But on the same day that the FSB issued the statement, Putin announced that Russian authorities would investigate the Concordia catering company, which is owned by Wagner’s mercenary boss.

Wagner mercenary boss under investigation for military contracts

The head of the Kremlin then said that an investigation would be launched after it was revealed that Prigozhin received almost two billion rubles from the Russian state last year.

Speaking to a group of Russian soldiers invited to the Kremlin to be rewarded for defeating the uprising, Putin said he respected Wagner’s fighters, but in fact Prigozhin’s group was “fully funded” by the Russian state budget.

Putin also said that between May 2022 and May 2023, the Wagner Group received 86 billion rubles ($1 billion) from the Russian Defense Ministry, adding that Prigozhin’s catering company Concordia received 80 billion rubles in government contracts. to supply the Russian army with food.

Concordia also served the Kremlin for many years, earning Prigozhin the nickname “Putin’s cook”.

“I hope that during this work no one stole anything or, let’s say, stole less. But, of course, we will investigate all these things,” Vladimir Putin said.

A few days later, on July 2, Prigozhin’s representative announced that he was closing his media “empire” in Russia, which Western analysts believed ran several so-called “troll farms.”

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