Wagner mutineers turn back from Moscow after striking deal with Putin

Breaking news - Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian mercenary leader, turned his fighters back from a march on the Kremlin on Saturday after a truce was struck with Vladimir Putin. Mutinous Wagner mercenaries marched to within 150 miles of Moscow in what the Russian president described as a treasonous “stab in the back” before they abruptly halted. The stand-down came after Alexander Lukashenko, the dictator of Belarus, said he had brokered a last-minute truce to avoid a Russian civil war. The key plank of the deal appeared to be the Kremlin dropping plans to abolish the Wagner military company. “They were going to dismantle PMC Wagner. We came out on June 23 to the march of justice,” Prigozhin said in a voice message. “In a day, we walked to nearly 200 kilometres away from Moscow. In this time, we did not spill a single drop of blood of our fighters. “Now, the moment has come when blood may spill. That’s why we are turning back our convoys and going back to field camps according to the plan.” The Kremlin announced later in the evening that Prigozhin had agreed to move to Belarus under the terms of the deal. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman, said criminal charges against him would be dropped. Wagner troops that took part in the rebellion would similarly be spared from prosecution, Mr Peskov said. Continue reading the full article: Subscribe to The Telegraph with our special offer: just £1 for 3 months. Start your free trial now: Get the latest headlines: and are websites of The Telegraph, the UK’s best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture. #prigozhin #wagner #putin