In a startling development, Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday he had ordered his mercenaries to stop their march into Moscow and retreat to their field camps in Ukraine. to reduce stress.
The announcement from Putin’s former ally appeared to defuse a domestic crisis that had been growing over the past 24 hours. According to the AP news agency, Moscow has mentally prepared for the arrival of a private army led by the rebel general. And President Vladimir Putin has vowed that he will face harsh consequences.
Prigozhin said that while his troops were only 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Moscow, he decided to return to avoid “Russian bloodshed”.
He did not say whether the Kremlin would respond to his request to remove Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.
The announcement comes after a statement from the office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko saying that he had negotiated an agreement with Prigozhin after discussing the matter with Putin earlier.
Lukashenko’s office said Prigozhin appeared to have accepted Lukashenko’s offer to halt Wagner’s advance, adding that the proposed deal included security guarantees for Wagner troops.
