‘Exiled’ Wagner Boss Returns to Russia and Gets His Weapons Back

Anadolu Agency via Getty

The Russian mercenary boss who got off unscathed after staging an armed uprising against the country’s military leadership has returned to St. Petersburg to collect an arsenal of weapons confiscated from him by the security services.

Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was spotted Tuesday arriving at an FSB office in St. Petersburg along with his security team, local news outlet Fontanka reports. He had reportedly been invited to collect several weapons seized by security services in the wake of his attempted insurrection last month.

Authorities handed over two Saiga rifles, a Mannlicher rifle, and several other firearms, according to Fontanka. The lot reportedly also included a Glock pistol gifted to the foul-mouthed mercenary boss by none other than Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom Prigozhin had allegedly hoped to capture in his armed uprising and march on Rostov.

Prigozhin was also reportedly given back 10 billion rubles (more than $100 million) that law enforcement had found during a raid on one of his vehicles.

The news comes after Prigozhin released a new audio message earlier this week promising new “victories on the frontline” even as the Kremlin insists he and Wagner have been banished to Belarus.

“We need your support today more than ever. Thank you for that. I want you to understand that our ‘justice march’ was aimed at fighting traitors and mobilizing our society. I think we achieved a lot of that,” Prigozhin said in the message shared by the Wagner-affiliated GreyZone Telegram channel.

The Wagner boss managed to dodge criminal charges for his June 24 mutiny, despite several Russian service members having been killed when his fighters shot down army choppers. But the rebellion has “worsened existing fault lines within Russia’s national security community,” according to British intelligence.

In addition to General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russian troops in Ukraine, reportedly facing scrutiny for his ties to Prigozhin and possible role in the uprising, Deputy Defense Minister Colonel General Yunus-bek Yevkurov was also conspicuously absent from a recent meeting of top military brass.

The Russian military is now thought to be hoping to fill gaps in the Ukraine frontline left by Wagner’s departure by sending more prison inmates and Chechen troops, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.