Extraordinary disguises, an alligator and even severed heads have been discovered in the St Petersburg palace of Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin after a raid by Russian security services.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) says it found guns, ammunition, gold bars, a stuffed alligator and a cupboard full of wigs at the residence where the mercenary leader no longer lives.
The former ally of Vladimir Putin staged an armed revolt against the Kremlin regime a few weeks ago but was forced to abandon his plotted coup and go into hiding.
During the FSB search, they also discovered a famed photo of the severed heads "of Wagner traitors."
Also among the items was a wardrobe full of wigs which were likely once disguises for the bald brute.
It is claimed the billionaire had used the disguises in Africa and the Middle East as he furthered Putin’s interests and deployed Wagner forces.
Alleged photos show him as an Employee of the Ministry of Defence in Sudan and in another, he is disguised as an assistant diplomat from Abu Dhabi.
A third shows him mocked up as a Senior Lieutenant from Benghazi in Libya.
He also posed as a colonel from Tripoli and as a "merchant from Syria."
Media owned by a company headed by Putin’s ex-Olympic gymnast lover Alina Kabaeva, 40, were used to release the leaked pictures of the raid.
Further photos showed a grand piano at the base of a spiral marble staircase, as well as a spa and sauna area, and a private indoor swimming pool.
Prigozhin backers said that the leak may flout Russia’s strict national security laws as they believe he was acting as a state agent.
Many believe his Wagner mercenary army was a creation of the GRU military intelligence agency — which, in 2018, was responsible for the poisoning of former spy and defector Sergei Skripal in the British city of Salisbury.
Telegram channel Trinadtsatiy said: "The backbone of the Wagner PMC is made up of people from the GRU, and they are not stupid.
"Such [disguises] are needed to work in neighbouring countries, and in fact, they are operational information."
Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko said: "These are not shots from a casting for a role in a cheap comedy, but a selfie of Prigozhin.
"The pictures were published by the Russian security forces. In most of the pictures, yesterday's ‘Hero of Russia’ is in Libyan uniform with Libyan epaulettes and elements of conspiracy."
The purpose of the leak was to discredit Prigozhin "who destroyed objectionable people with a sledgehammer, approved of torture and violence at the front, but failed with his Moscow trip" during the armed revolt aimed at toppling Putin’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu.
Large wads of cash in various currencies were also discovered at the residence, the FSB said, as well as a military uniform replete with around two dozen medals.
Yet the story becomes murky with reports that Prigozhin is not living in exile in Belarus and a reliable Fontanka media outlet revealed he had been in St Petersburg to personally receive his private arsenal back from the FSB.
