Russia’s security forces have seized £38 million from Wagner’s headquarters in St Petersburg after a surprise raid.
The cash was found stashed inside a van and two buses, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has confirmed the raid.
Prigozhin, who will move to neighbouring Belarus as part of a deal to end his rebellion, claimed the money belongs to the mercenary group.
The cash was reportedly found stashed inside a van and two buses. Prigozhin has not confirmed how much money was seized but Russian media outlets reported it was around £4billion rubles, or £38million.
Prigozhin explained in an audio message on Telegram that the money is used to cover compensation payments of killed Wagner soldiers, Daily Mail reports.
“Wagner has been operating for the past 10 years using only cash – as agreed in our contract. I fully adhere to it,” he sa
The raid comes after it was announced Prigozhin will move to Belarus as part of the deal to end his rebellion, which will result in criminal charges against him being dropped, the Kremlin claims.
Troops who supported the 62-year old former friend of Putin in the uprising will avoid any prosecution too, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said. He added that troops who weren’t involved will instead be offered contracts by the Defence Ministry.
