15 July 2023 , 00:17
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Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has been pictured for the first time since leading a failed coup against Russia's president Vladimir Putin.
Half-naked, the military chief is sitting in his underwear inside a field tent on a Wagner-affiliated Telegrapm channel.
The undated photograph shows Prigozhin waving to the camera while sitting upright on a bunk in a field tent decorated with a Wagner insignia.
Analysts suggest the photo could have been taken earlier this week in Osipovichi, Belarus, where Prigozhin was exiled to after his failed coup in June.
The Belarusian Gayun Monitoring Group claims that the photograph may have been taken on July 12. Gayun reports that on July 11, a plane belonging to Prigozhin flew to Belarus for the third time, after which two helicopters flew to Osipovichi.
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The next day, the plane flew back to St. Petersburg, leading the monitoring group to suggest the trip was a chance for the Wagner chief to check the new camp.
People close to the Wagner chief told the Financial Times that he was probably given some time to wind down his Russian businesses before settling in Belarus.
This comes as Belarus confirmed that Wagner forces are now training the country's military. The photograph of Mr Prigozhin emerged online just hours after Vladimir Putin said the Wagner Group no longer exists.
In his first comments about a Kremlin deal with the mercenaries, President Putin told Russian newspaper Kommersant on Thursday that he had offered Wagner “several employment options.”