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Their leader said on Saturday that rebel Russian mercenary fighters who fought most of the way to Moscow had agreed to return to avoid bloodshed, de-escalating what has become a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power.
Fighters from Wagner’s private army run by former Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin were already most of the way to the capital, having captured the city of Rostov and embarked on a 1,100-kilometer race to Moscow.
Prigozhin said in an audio message that the fighters would return to the base because of the risk of bloodshed.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s office said an agreement to halt further movement of Wagner fighters through Russia in return for guarantees of rebel safety was brokered by him.
Earlier, Prigozhin said his men were on a “march for justice” to get rid of the corrupt and incompetent Russian leaders he blames for failing the war in Ukraine.
In a televised address from the Kremlin, Putin said Russia’s very existence was threatened.
“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,” he said.
“All those who deliberately trespassed the path of treason, who prepared an armed rebellion, and took the path of extortion and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, and they will be subject to the law and to our people.”
The RIA news agency said Putin later signed a law toughening the rules for breaking martial law in places where it was imposed.
Video obtained by Reuters showed troop carriers and two flatbed trucks, each carrying a tank, driving 30 miles (50 km) beyond Voronezh, more than halfway to Moscow, where they were fired upon by a helicopter.
Prigozhin, whose private army has fought Ukraine’s bloodiest battles even as it quarrels for months with top military officers, said it captured the headquarters of Russia’s southern military district in the city of Rostov without firing a shot.
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