The head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was leading an armed rebellion against the Russian military leadership, announced this Saturday that his fighters will return to their bases after approaching 200 kilometers from Moscow, to avoid bloodshed.
"The time has come when blood can be shed. Therefore, understanding full responsibility for Russian blood being shed by one of the parties, our columns turn around and return to our bases according to plan," he said in a statement. audio message on his Telegram channel.
Prigozhin affirmed that the Russian military elites, against whom he rebelled, "wanted to disintegrate Wagner" and explained that for this reason he announced the "march for justice", during which, in 24 hours, he advanced until he reached 200 kilometers from Moscow. after taking the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
"During this time we did not shed a drop of blood from our combatants," he said, acknowledging that this could have changed.
The head of the Wagner Group made this announcement after the press service of the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, stated that the president had mediated between Moscow and Prigozhin, with the permission of the Russian head of state, Vladimir Putin.
"Yevgueni Prigozhin accepted the proposal of the Belarusian president on the advance of Wagner's troops on Russian territory and future steps to reduce tensions," the Belarusian Presidency assured on Telegram and also reported the official agency, BELTA.
According to Minsk, Putin "in the morning informed his Belarusian counterpart of the situation in the south of Russia", in reference to the occupation by the Rostov mercenaries.
"The heads of states agreed on joint actions. In accordance with the agreements, the President of Belarus, after verifying the situation through his own channels, entered into talks with the head of Wagner (...)".
The Belarusian Presidency indicated that "the talks lasted throughout the day."
"In the end, an agreement was reached regarding the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloody massacre on Russian territory," said the press service of Lukashenko, Putin's main ally in his military campaign in Ukraine.
Minsk noted that an "absolutely beneficial and acceptable option to resolve the situation, with security guarantees for Wagner's fighters" is currently on the table.
