Breaking: The head of the Wagner group has been exiled to Belarus after striking a deal to halt his mercenaries' march on Moscow.
Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin has called off his paramilitary insurrection against the Kremlin’s armed forces just hours before a potential assault on Moscow, which had threatened to be the first coup attempt in the country for three decades.
Putin, whose enemies say he’s been weakened and humiliated by the events, had asked Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, a long-time ally, to mediate in the hope of avoiding any further bloodshed because after the group seized control of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and shot down multiple Russian aircraft as part of the insurgency.
Fighters of Wagner private mercenary group stand guard outside the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don on Saturday.Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said Wagner’s fighters would not be charged “because of their deeds on the front”. He said some Wagner fighters who “came to their senses” and had not taken part in the uprising would sign contracts with the Russian defence ministry.
He said the deal offered to Prigozhin was “absolutely advantageous and acceptable”, and would involve unspecified security guarantees for Wagner. Lukashenko is Putin’s closest ally and allowed the Kremlin leader to use Belarus to launch part of Moscow’s war against Ukraine last year. Prigozhin, the founder of the private army of mercenaries that has been fighting alongside the regular Russian army in Ukraine, said on his Telegram channel that he has agreed to “stop” the advancement of his troops towards Moscow.
The agreement to dramatically de-escalate the situation came after Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko held talks with Prigozhin, according to Russian TV channel Rossiya 24. Earlier, the Wagner group said it had taken the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and seized military facilities in Voronezh. Troops had also started to march toward Moscow after crossing the border from Ukraine.
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