Disguises found in Yevgeny Prigozhin's properties are believed to have been used while furthering Russian interests in Africa and the Middle East. AP
Disguises found in Yevgeny Prigozhin's properties are believed to have been used while furthering Russian interests in Africa and the Middle East. AP
Disguises found in Yevgeny Prigozhin's properties are believed to have been used while furthering Russian interests in Africa and the Middle East. AP
Disguises found in Yevgeny Prigozhin's properties are believed to have been used while furthering Russian interests in Africa and the Middle East. AP

Belarus leader Lukashenko claims Wagner chief Prigozhin is in Russia


Marwa Hassan
  • English
  • Arabic

Weapons, ammunition, passports and gold bars were among the items discovered during a police search of properties belonging to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of Wagner Group PMC.

The searches were conducted after an alleged mutiny staged by the mercenary group against leaders of the Russian Ministry of Defence on June 23.

Mr Prigozhin was allowed to leave Russia for Belarus after the failed rebellion, following negotiations involving President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.

However, on Thursday, Mr Lukashenko said the Wagner leader was in Russia, not Belarus.

He told reporters: “As for Prigozhin, he's in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus.”

Searches

During the searches, which took place on June 24, according to Russian media outlet Izvestia, police also found currency in various denominations.

The searches were extensively documented in photos and videos published by Izvestia.

A search of Mr Prigozhin's St Petersburg office on June 24 yielded 10 billion roubles ($110.4 million) in cash, which was subsequently returned to the office on July 4.

Material evidence acquired during the searches included not only a vast assortment of weapons and currencies, but also a collection of wigs and disguises.

Leaked images of Mr Prigozhin wearing these disguises have stoked public interest and speculation.

While the purpose of the disguises is a topic of speculation, some argue that Mr Prigozhin may have used them while furthering Mr Putin's interests in Africa and the Middle East.

Some of the disguises portrayed him in different roles, from a Ministry of Defence employee in Sudan to various military figures from Libya.

Mr Prigozhin, often referred to as “Putin's chef” due to his past in the catering industry, is a Russian business tycoon with close ties to the president.

He is the alleged financier of the Wagner Group, a private military company involved in various conflicts around the globe, including Syria, Ukraine, and Libya.

Despite operating officially as a private company, the group is known to have significant ties to the GRU, Russia's military intelligence service.

Several people involved in its inception have connections to the GRU, which has led many experts to argue that the Wagner Group is essentially a proxy for the Russian state, used to achieve geopolitical goals without official Russian military involvement.

Before the failed coup, Mr Prigozhin had been awarded a Gold Star medal with the title of Hero of the Russian Federation on June 20, 2022.

However, recent events and the subsequent raid on his properties have led to a notable shift in the public's perception of the Wagner Group boss.

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Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders

Director: Dean Fleischer Camp

Rating: 4.5/5

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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Liverpool 4
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Three ways to limit your social media use

Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.

1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.

2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information. 

3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam

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3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

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Director: Nora Twomey

Starring: Saara Chaudry,  Soma Chhaya,  Laara Sadiq 

Three stars

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Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)

What is THAAD?

It is considered to be the US' most superior missile defence system.

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It was first created in 2008.

Speed:

THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.

Abilities:

THAAD is designed to take out projectiles, namely ballistic missiles, as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".

Purpose:

To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.

Range:

THAAD can target projectiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 93 miles above the Earth's surface.

Creators:

Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.

UAE and THAAD:

In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then deployed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.

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Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

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Updated: July 06, 2023, 11:58 AM`