Wagner’s “exiled” boss Prigozhin may not have been to Belarus at all — and may have used a body double to make it look like he fled Russia, a US official said.

• Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was exiled to Belarus last month after launching an armed rebellion.

• But the former Putin ally appears to have reappeared in St Petersburg this week, throwing confusion.

• A Pentagon official told The New York Times that Prigozhin appears to have been mostly in Russia.

Yevgeny Prigozhin was exiled to Belarus last month after he used his Wagner mercenary group to wage an armed insurrection against Moscow’s military leadership, but after apparently appearing in St. Petersburg This week, some wondered if he had actually left Russia at all.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenkowho gets credit for convincing Russian President Vladimir Putin not to Prigozhin was killedHe helped broker the deal that ended the rebellion, which included Prigozhin’s exile. But Lukashenko said on Thursday that Wagner’s boss had already returned to Russia.

said former CIA spies Sonam Sheth Inside Prigozhin’s swift return indicates weakness on behalf of Putin – who has imprisoned or even killed his opponents in the past for far less than an armed revolt.

But things got even stranger with the suggestion that Prigozhin may never have been to Belarus.

An unnamed Pentagon official said New York times that Prigozhin had already been in Russia—Moscow or St. Petersburg—for most of the time since the rebellion. The official also said it was unclear whether Prigozhin had been to Belarus, noting that he was believed to be using a physical double.

An official also told the newspaper that none of Wagner’s soldiers appeared to be in Belarus and that most were still on bases in eastern Ukraine. Lukashenko told reporters on Thursday that it was not clear whether Wagner fighters would come to Belarus after he had previously offered them a military base in the desert.

Prigozhin’s history seems to be used The body doubles Unclear, but similar rumors have long surrounded Putin. Conspiracy theories that Putin spread lookalikes for security reasons have surfaced online, prompting the Kremlin to dismiss them.

Even Putin said it was Offered the opportunity to use my body doubles on his visits to Chechnya in the early 2000s, but always refused.

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