USA: As part of a deal to defuse a crisis that represented the biggest challenge to President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power, the rebellious Russian mercenary commander who ordered his troops to march on Moscow before abruptly changing course will move to neighbouring Belarus and not face prosecution, the Kremlin said Saturday.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Yevgeny Prigozhin will no longer face charges for organising an armed uprising, and the soldiers who assisted him will also not face legal action. The Defence Ministry will also award contracts to members of his Wagner Group who refrained from taking part in the uprising.
Putin had vowed to punish those responsible for the armed uprising led by his former protege, whose forces had taken control of a crucial military installation in southern Russia before making their way to the capital. Putin referred to the rebellion as a "betrayal" and "treason" in a speech he gave to the country on television.
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Putin's "highest goal" in releasing Prigozhin and his men, according to Peskov, was "to avoid bloodshed and internal confrontation with unpredictable results."
By setting up checkpoints with armoured vehicles and soldiers on the southern edge of the city, Moscow had prepared for the Wagner forces' arrival. Red Square was closed, and the mayor asked drivers to avoid certain roads.
Even though his men were only 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Moscow when the agreement was reached, Prigozhin declared that he had decided to retreat in order to avoid "shedding Russian blood." His troops were instructed to return to the Ukrainian field camps where they had been fighting alongside regular Russian soldiers.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has long been the target of Prigozhin's scathing criticism for how he has handled the war in Ukraine, and he has now demanded his resignation. He claimed that on Friday, Shoigu's forces attacked Wagner camps and killed "a huge number of our comrades."
When asked if the Kremlin had complied with his request, Prigozhin remained silent. Peskov claimed that because the negotiations were being led by the president of Belarus, the topic could not have been brought up during them and that it is the "exclusive prerogative of the commander in chief."
Given that Putin called Prigozhin a backstabbing traitor, it might be politically damaging for the president if he agreed to the removal of Shoigu.
Early on Saturday, the military command centre that oversees Russian operations in Ukraine appeared to be under the control of Prigozhin's private army in Rostov-on-Don, a city 660 miles (over 1,000 kilometres) south of Moscow, according to the British Ministry of Defence.
People cheering Wagner troops as they left Rostov-on-Don could be seen in a nighttime video from the city that was posted on Russian messaging app channels. People greeted Prigozhin as he lowered the window of one of the cars, and some even ran to shake his hand.
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In the Lipetsk province, about 360 kilometres (225 miles) south of Moscow, Wagner troops and equipment were also present.
In order to increase security and place some restrictions on movement, authorities proclaimed a "counterterrorist regime" in Moscow and the area around it. Soldiers placed machine guns, sandbags, and checkpoints on the southern outskirts. To halt the march, workers dug up portions of the highways.
As part of the heightened security, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin declared Monday a non-working day for the majority of residents; this declaration held true even after the retreat.
The dramatic events occurred exactly 16 months after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has been the largest conflict in Europe since World War II and resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, millions of displaced people, and the levelling of entire cities.
Ukrainians hoped that the internal strife in Russia would give their army chances to retake land that Russian forces had occupied.
Putin's position has likely been weakened even with a deal, according to Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, who also noted that "these events will have been of great comfort to the Ukrainian government and military."
Late on Saturday, just before Prigozhin announced his retreat, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that the march revealed Kremlin weaknesses and "showed all Russian bandits, mercenaries, and oligarchs" that it is simple to capture Russian cities "and, probably, arsenals."
In his daily video address, Zelensky switched to Russian and declared that "the man from the Kremlin" was "very afraid." He reiterated his demands that the West send Ukraine F-16 fighter planes and ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles.
The reason for Prigozhin's fighters' refusal to submit, according to him, is that "we do not want the country to live on in corruption, deceit, and bureaucracy."
"The president made a grave error when he said that the motherland had been betrayed. We are citizens of our country, he declared in a voice message posted to his Telegram channel.
He uploaded a video of himself at Rostov-on-Don's military command centre, where he declared that his troops had taken control of the city's airfield and other military facilities without any casualties or even "a single gunshot."
However, according to Russian media, Wagner troops shot down several helicopters as well as a military communications plane. The Defence Ministry was contacted by the Kremlin regarding the losses, but it made no comments.
The brief uprising occurred at a time when Russia is "fighting the toughest battle for its future," according to Putin, as a result of Western sanctions against Moscow and the arming of Ukraine.
"The entire military, economic, and information machine of the West is waged against us," said Putin.
Putin's statement was the first item on state-run TV networks' newscasts, which also covered the tense circumstances in Rostov-on-Don. Top Russian officials and lawmakers have also spoken out in support of Putin, denouncing Prigozhin, and pleading with him to recant in statements that have been broadcast on television.
Ramzan Kadyrov, a powerful figure in Chechnya who has previously sided with Prigozhin in his criticism of the Russian military, also declared his support for Putin's "every word."
Wagner troops were instrumental in the capture of Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine, the scene of some of the bloodiest and longest battles. However, Prigozhin has grown more critical of the military leadership, charging it with incompetence and depriving his troops of ammunition.
In his declaration of war, Prigozhin charged that Russian forces had used artillery, helicopter gunships, and rockets to attack the Wagner camps in Ukraine. He claimed that following a meeting with Shoigu in which they decided to eliminate the military contractor, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, gave the orders for the attacks.
Attacks on the camps were denied by the Defence Ministry.
The 62-year-old Prigozhin, a former criminal with strong ties to Putin, earned lucrative catering jobs at the Kremlin, earning him the moniker "Kremlin Caterer."
He came to light in the US after he and a dozen other Russian citizens were accused of running a clandestine social media campaign to sow discord prior to Donald Trump's 2016 victory in the presidential election. Military contractors were dispatched by Wagner to Libya, Syria, several African nations, and ultimately Ukraine.
The uprising seemed likely to make Moscow's war effort in Ukraine even more difficult as Kyiv's forces began their counteroffensive by probing Russian defences.
The infighting, according to Orysia Lutsevych, the director of the Ukraine Forum at the London-based Chatham House think tank, could lead to confusion and potential division among Russian military forces.
According to Lutsevych, it's possible that Russian troops in Ukraine are currently operating without any clear military orders and without a clear sense of who to obey and follow. "This gives the Ukrainian army a rare and unheard-of military opportunity."
Western nations closely followed developments. According to a statement from his spokesman, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his counterparts in the other G7 nations and the EU's foreign affairs representative, and "reiterated that support by the United States for Ukraine will not change."
Two NATO members that border Russia, Latvia and Estonia, announced they were stepping up security at their borders.
