The Wagner private military company, known as 'Putin's chef' has confirmed plans for the Chatham Islands, but one local tourism boss isn't convinced.
In a cryptic email sent to Stuff, the Russian oligarch boss Yevgeny Prigozhin somewhat addressed questions about the group's interests.
"We will not share this information, everything has its own time," Prigozhin said.
It comes after Prigozhin was pictured in front of a world map with the Chatham Islands pinned.
When questioned by Stuff if the pin was a mistake a spokesperson said they would "not disclose the plans of the PMC 'Wagner' regarding Chatham Islands".
But the owner of Hotel Chatham Toni Croon, whose sister is the Mayor of the Chatham Islands, told AM "there is no secrets on Chathams" (sic) and doesn't believe there is any truth to Prigozhin's claim.
Croon said locals are "very sceptical" of the revelation and said local MP Paul Eagle and her sister Mayor Monique Croon will make an announcement about the matter on Friday.
Newshub attempted to contact Eagle, but he did not answer our calls.
"I don't think there's any truth in it, we haven't officially heard, but I don't think there is," Croon told AM.
Croon added anyone is welcome to the Chatham Islands, but with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, she and other locals "probably won't really be that keen on the political side of Russia coming over here".
Wagner is fighting in Ukraine as part of the Russian invasion and Aotearoa has sanctioned the entity along with Prigozhin and other leaders within the group.
Watch the video above for more.
