Wagner boss to leave Russia and charges dropped, state media says

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a warlord in Russia, has decided to leave the country for Belarus as part of a deal to put an end to his armed insurrection and have the accusations against him dismissed, according to the Kremlin.

The spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, stated that Prigozhin's militia members would not face charges "because of their deeds on the front." He further stated that certain Wagner warriors who "came to their senses" and withdrew from the insurrection would sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defence.

After a 24-hour crisis in which the Kremlin scrambled to make the capital into a fortress to fend off the rebels, Prigozhin declared that his convoy of troops, weapons, and tanks would stop their journey towards Moscow and return to their bases. The deal was mediated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

"The day has come when there could be blood spilt. We are turning our convoy around and returning to our basecamps in accordance with the plan because we recognise all of the responsibility for the fact that Russian blood will be shed on one side, according to Prigozhin in a voice note shared on social media.

What the "plan" actually was was left unclear.

According to Peskov, Putin had requested Lukashenko to mediate because the Belarusian president has known Prigozhin for 20 years in the hopes of preventing any additional violence.

Peskov characterised Saturday's rebellion as "fairly difficult" and "full of tragic events" after Wagner shot down multiple government helicopters, took control of a significant army command post, and marched most of the way from the Ukrainian border to Moscow. He said, though, that "there were higher goals of avoiding bloodshed and internal conflict."

Peskov stated that Putin would not comment further on the incident and that Russia's invasion of Ukraine will go on as usual.

According to state newswire Tass, Prigozhin-aligned Wagner paramilitaries started leaving Rostov on Saturday night. The warriors were shown praising the villagers in a video that was published online by state media and social media channels connected to Wagner.

On the route of Prigozhin's insurrection, the governor of a Russian province indicated that security constraints will start to be relaxed.

Lipetsk's governor, Igor Artamonov, declared that the area would "start to cancel the restrictions introduced today" and reopen the blocked federal routes. He claimed that the roads damaged during the advance had already started to be rebuilt.

"We all rose to honourably and dignifiedly defend the national interests of our nation. The president and Russia won't be let down by the Lipetsk region, Artamonov wrote in a social media post.

Earlier, Putin had threatened to put an end to the uprising and charged Wagner with "treason" for posing "a deadly threat to our statehood" similar to the 1917 revolution that resulted in the fall of imperial Russia.

Following months of escalating conflict between the warlord and the military's top brass, which was made worse by 16 months of hostilities with Ukraine, Prigozhin attempted to revolt.

Tens of thousands of lives have been lost as a result of the violence, which has also crippled the nation's economy and produced a hazardous patchwork of rival security agencies and militias.

Prior to this, Prigozhin had declared that his Wagner forces did not wish to continue to live "under corruption, lies, and bureaucracy."

After "agreeing on joint actions" with Putin and "additionally clarifying the situation through his own channels," Lukashenko spent "the entire day" negotiating with Prigozhin, according to the Belarusian president's press service on Saturday.

It stated that Prigozhin had agreed to [Lukashenko's] request to "stop the movement of armed men from the Wagner company on Russian territory and [take] further steps to de-escalate the situation".

The press agency continued, "At this time, there is a completely favourable and acceptable approach to defuse the situation on the table, with security guarantees for Wagner's fighters.

According to Belarus, Putin thanked Lukashenko. According to the statement, the Russian president praised and supported his Belarusian colleague's work.

Hanna Maliar, the deputy defence minister for Ukraine, reported that Kiev's forces had "launched an offensive in several directions at the same time" on Saturday, perhaps taking advantage of the opportunity to launch a counterattack against Moscow's soldiers as the Russian power struggle was in progress.

"There is progress in all directions," Maliar remarked, referring to Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bakhmut, Bohdanivka, Yahidne, Klishchiivka, and Kurdyumivka.

“The enemy is on the defensive, making great efforts to stop our offensive actions,” she continued. “At the same time, the enemy is suffering significant losses in personnel, weapons and equipment.”

Maliar said that several Russian attacks in the east, backed with heavy artillery and air power, had been repelled.