Russian state media discloses details of raids at home of Wagner group chief

MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian state media disclosed details of raids carried out at the house of the head of the Wagner group after he declared his intention to overthrow military chiefs.

The state-run Rossiya-1 TV channel aired on Wednesday night a program, showing the video footage of June 24, the day of the mutiny, where operatives search one of Yevgeny Prigozhin's houses, located in the city of Saint Petersburg.

The video showed fake passports, wigs, other things for changing appearance, cash in different currencies, bars of gold, and handguns stored in closets and vaults.

The heavily fortified house had a personal medical cabinet that looks like a mini-hospital, and a helicopter at a specially built platform in front of the house.

Some $500,000 and 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of gold bars were recovered.

Separately, 10 billion rubles (some $110 million) were found in Wagner offices in Saint Petersburg.

The host of the program Honest Detective Eduard Petrov also claimed that the investigation against Prigozhin continues.

However, Rossiya-1 did not clarify whether the program was recorded before or after a settlement deal with the Wagner head.

Saint Petersburg local media showed Prigozhin on July 4 near the office of the Federal Security Service regional subsidiary where he came to get the possession of items confiscated on June 24.

On July 6, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko confirmed that Prigozhin left Belarus and, according to his information, is currently in Saint Petersburg.

On June 24, Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of attacking its fighters, declared a "March of Justice," and set off toward Moscow.

The Russian Federal Security Service designated Wagner Group's action "an armed rebellion" and opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, while President Vladimir Putin called the private military company's uprising an act of "treason."

Prigozhin, however, later turned back "to avoid bloodshed" and has since moved to Belarus under a deal brokered by Lukashenko.