Moscow: Heavily armed Russian mercenaries of the Wagner group withdrew from the southern Russian city of Rostov under a deal that halted their rapid advance on Moscow but left unanswered questions about President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power.
Ending their mutiny, the Wagner group headed back to their bases in return for guarantees for their safety. Their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, will move to Belarus under the deal mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Prigozhin, 62, was seen leaving the district military headquarters in Rostov - hundreds of miles south of Moscow - in a sport utility vehicle. Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and ex-convict whose forces have fought the bloodiest battles of the 16-month war in Ukraine, said his decision to advance on Moscow was intended to remove corrupt and incompetent Russian commanders he blames for botching the war.
Each hour on Saturday brought news of Prigozhin’s private military company forces inching closer to Moscow, posing a threat to Putin and raising the specter of a civil war in the nuclear-armed state. The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said the agreement was struck to “avoid bloodshed, to avoid an internal confrontation, to avoid clashes with unpredictable consequences.”
Under the deal, Peskov said a criminal case opened against Prigozhin for armed mutiny would be dropped, Prigozhin would move to Belarus, and Wagner fighters who rallied to his cause would face no action, in recognition of their previous service to Russia. Peskov said Lukashenko had offered to mediate, with Putin’s approval, because he had known Prigozhin personally for around 20 years.