Moscow [Russia], June 25: Heavily armed Russian mercenaries who advanced most of the way to Moscow halted their approach, de-escalating a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin's grip on power, in a move that their leader said would avoid bloodshed.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and founder of the Wagner army, said his men reached within 125 miles (200 km) of the capital on Saturday. Earlier, Moscow deployed soldiers in preparation for their arrival and told residents to stay indoors.
The Wagner fighters captured the city of Rostov hundreds of miles to the south before racing north in convoy, transporting tanks and armoured trucks and smashing through barricades set up to stop them, video showed.
On Saturday night, they began withdrawing from the Rostov military headquarters they had seized, a Reuters witness said.
"In 24 hours we got to within 200 km of Moscow. In this time we did not spill a single drop of our fighters' blood," Prigozhin, dressed in full combat uniform at an undisclosed location, said in a video.
"Understanding . that Russian blood will be spilt on one side, we are turning our columns around and going back to field camps as planned."
Reuters could not independently verify how far Prigozhin's mercenaries had reached. The video earlier showed convoys of Wagner vehicles less than 310 miles (500 km) from Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that under a deal brokered by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, the criminal case opened against Prigozhin for armed mutiny would be dropped, Prigozhin would move to Belarus, and Wagner fighters who joined his "march for justice" would face no action, in recognition of their previous service to Russia.
Peskov, who called the events of the day "tragic", said Lukashenko had offered to mediate, with Putin's approval because he had known Prigozhin personally for around 20 years.
LITTLE PUSHBACK FROM THE ARMED FORCES
Wagner's lightning insurrection appeared to develop with little pushback from Russia's regular armed forces, raising questions about Putin's hold on power in the nuclear-armed nation even after the abrupt halt to Wagner's advance.
Earlier, Prigozhin said his "march" on Moscow was intended to remove corrupt and incompetent Russian commanders he blames for botching the war in Ukraine.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation