Humiliating snap of Prigozhin sitting in his pants is leaked

A photo of Yevgeny Prigozhin in a greying T-shirt and underpants emerged yesterday after Vladimir Putin claimed he was not the ‘real’ leader of the Wagner mercenary group.

The image showed warlord Prigozhin sat on an unmade bed inside a large tent, apparently waving to the camera.

Data from the photo appeared to show it was taken in June, before the doomed coup which saw Putin denounce Prigozhin as a traitor.

Humiliating photographs of the Wagner chief have been leaked since the rebellion in an apparent attempt to discredit him.

Putin has denied that Prigozhin was Wagner’s true leader, and reportedly named the real commander as ‘Grey Hair’, the nom de guerre of Andrei Troshev, a former Russian army colonel.

Russian despot Vladimir Putin (pictured) has denied that Yevgeny Prigozhin was Wagner’s true leader

Putin reportedly named the real Wagner commander as ‘Grey Hair’, the nom de guerre of Andrei Troshev (pictured), a former Russian army colonel

Previously named as an executive director of Wagner, Troshev fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya and led Wagner forces in Syria in 2016. He was awarded Russia’s highest honorary title after capturing Palmyra from the so-called Islamic State in 2017.

In an interview with the Kommersant newspaper, Putin said he had met 35 Wagner commanders, including Prigozhin, and offered them the chance to fight in the Russian army.

The meeting was said to have taken place on June 29, five days after the failed rebellion.

The Russian president said: ‘They would all be able to stick together in one place and to continue their service.

‘They will still be led by the same person who has been their real commander all this time.’

The newspaper said Putin named the ‘real commander’ as Troshev. The Russian president claimed that several Wagner leaders had appeared to approve of his offer, but that Prigozhin had rejected it.

The warlord, 62, was thought to have fled to Belarus after the short-lived mutiny, but its premier said he was in Russia and his current whereabouts are unknown.

Photos purporting to show Prigozhin wearing the wigs as part of various disguises were leaked to state-backed Russian Telegram channels

Prigozhin’s backers say he was likely working as a state agent and that the leaking of these images flouts Russia’s security laws

Humiliating photographs of the Wagner chief have been leaked since the rebellion in an apparent attempt to discredit him 

Kremlin watchers suggested that Putin was attempting to keep ties with other Wagner commanders and fighters who have been involved in the war in Ukraine.

But Putin refused to guarantee the group would be preserved as a fighting unit, saying: ‘The [Wagner] group is here, but it does not exist legally.’

Belarus said Wagner fighters were acting as military instructors for its forces near the town of Osipovichy, 50 miles outside Minsk.

But the Pentagon said Wagner was no longer playing a ‘significant’ role in support of Putin.

Meanwhile, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned a ‘direct armed clash’ with Russia would have ‘catastrophic consequences’ for Nato.