Rebel Russian mercenaries halt advance on Moscow, Kremlin says fighters to face no action By Reuters

Rostov-on-Don/Voronezh, Russia (Reuters) – Heavily armed Russian mercenaries who had advanced most of their way into Moscow halted their approach, escalating a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power, in a move their leader said. That would avoid bloodshed.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and founder of the Wagner Army, said his men came within 125 miles (200 km) of the capital on Saturday. Earlier, Moscow deployed soldiers to prepare for their arrival and told residents to stay home.

Video footage showed Wagner’s fighters captured the city of Rostov hundreds of miles to the south before racing north in a convoy, hauling in tanks and armored trucks and smashing barricades set up to stop them.

A Reuters witness said that on Saturday evening they began withdrawing from the military headquarters in Rostov, which they had captured.

“Within 24 hours we have reached a distance of 200 km from Moscow. In this time we have not spilled a single drop of the blood of our fighters,” Prigozhin, dressed in full combat fatigues, said in a video clip.

“Understanding … that Russian blood will be shed on one side, we turn our columns around and return to the field camps as planned.”

Reuters could not independently verify the extent of Prigozhin’s mercenaries. Video earlier showed convoys of Wagner vehicles less than 310 miles (500 km) from Moscow.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that under an agreement brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the criminal case against Prigozhin for armed rebellion would be dropped, Prigozhin would move to Belarus, and Wagner fighters who joined the “March for Justice” would face no action. In recognition of their previous service to Russia.

Peskov, who called the day’s events “tragic,” said Lukashenko offered to mediate with Putin’s approval because he had known Prigozhin personally for nearly 20 years.

Few rush of armed forces

Wagner’s blitzkrieg rebellion seemed to develop with little reaction from Russia’s regular armed forces, raising questions about Putin’s hold on power in the nuclear-armed country even after the sudden halt to Wagner’s advance.

Earlier, Prigozhin said his “march” to Moscow is aimed at ousting the corrupt and incompetent Russian leaders he blames for failing the war in Ukraine.

Putin said in a televised address that the rebellion endangered Russia’s very existence.

“We are fighting for the life and security of our people, for our sovereignty and independence, for our right to remain Russia, a country with a thousand-year history,” Putin said, vowing to punish those behind the “armed insurrection.”

Later explaining the deal brokered by Lukashenko, Peskov said the agreement had a “higher goal” of avoiding confrontation and bloodshed.

Peskov declined to say whether any concessions had been made to Prigozhin, other than guarantees of safety for him—something he said Putin had given his word to assure him—and to Prigozhin’s men, to persuade him to withdraw all his forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the developments, which sparked a flurry of high-level contacts between Western leaders, exposed the turmoil in Russia’s heartland.

“Today the world can see that the masters of Russia do not control anything. It means nothing. Simply complete chaos. Absence of any predictability,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

Ex-convicts in Wagner’s classifications

Among the fighters led by Prigozhin, an ex-convict, are thousands of ex-prisoners recruited from Russian prisons.

His men fought the bloodiest battles of the 16-month-old Ukraine War, including the battles for the eastern city of Bakhmut. For months he railed against senior army officers, especially Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, accusing them of incompetence and withholding ammunition from his fighters.

This month, he defied orders by signing a contract that put his forces under the command of the Department of Defense.

The rebellion was apparently launched on Friday after the army claimed several of its fighters had been killed in an airstrike. The Ministry of Defense denied this.

He said he captured the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District without firing a shot in Rostov, which serves as a major rear logistical hub for Russia’s entire invasion force in Ukraine.

The townspeople traveled quietly, filming on mobile phones while Wagner fighters in armored vehicles and battle tanks took up positions.

Western capitals were following the situation closely. US President Joe Biden spoke with the leaders of France, Germany and Britain, while Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke with his G7 counterparts. A US military officer, General Mark Milley, has canceled a scheduled trip to the Middle East.

Ukraine attacks near Bakhmut

The rebellion was threatening to leave Russia’s invading forces in Ukraine in disarray, just as Kiev launched its most powerful counteroffensive since the war began in February last year.

Some Ukrainians were delighted at the prospect of a split in the Russian ranks 16 months after Kremlin forces invaded their country.

On Saturday, the Ukrainian military said its forces had made progress near Bakhmut, on the eastern front, and further south.

Deputy Defense Minister Hana Maliar said the attack was launched near a group of villages encircling Bakhmut that Wagner’s forces captured in May after months of fighting.

Oleksandr Tarnavsky, commander of the southern front, said Ukrainian forces had liberated an area near Krasnohorivka, west of the Russian-controlled Donetsk regional center.

Tarnavsky said the region had been under Russian control since it was captured by Moscow-backed separatist forces in 2014.