Wagner mercenaries retrace steps from Moscow to 'avoid splling of blood'

After reaching halfway to the capital city of Moscow, Wagner group mercenaries receded their steps to avoid bloodshed, their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed on Saturday.

The fighters of the Wagner 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 set off on a 1,100 km (680 mile) race to Moscow.

In an audio message, Prigozhin said that his army would return to their bases owing to the risk of blood being spilled.

A deal to halt further movement of Wagner fighters across Russia in return for guarantees of safety for the rebels was brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, his office said.

⚡️⚡️⚡️ President of #Belarus #Lukashenko held talks w/ head of PMC Wagner #Prigozhin. Negotiations continued throughout the day.

‼️Y.Prigozhin accepted the proposal of President of 🇧🇾 to stop the movement of armed people of the Wagner company on the territory of #Russia pic.twitter.com/Kpf2SW7RNu

— Belarus MFA 🇧🇾 (@BelarusMFA) June 24, 2023

Panic struck after reports of Wagner troops making their way to Moscow were made public.

Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Saturday urged residents to refrain from traveling around the capital city as the situation remains “difficult” with Wagner mercenaries moving towards Moscow to oust Russia’s military leadership.

“The situation is difficult. I ask you to refrain from travelling around the city as much as possible,” Sobyanin said in a statement, warning of possible road closures and announcing Monday was a “non-working” day.

Sobyanin’s advisory comes after Wagner group mercenaries were reportedly “moving across” the Lipetsk region, which is around 400 km south of Moscow.

With inputs from agencies

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