Wagner’s rebellious mercenary leader will move to Belarus under the terms of a truce agreed with President Putin, the Kremlin said on Saturday night.
Yevgeny Prigozhin will relocate to Belarus under a deal brokered by Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus’s president, to end an armed mutiny that Prigozhin had led against Russia’s military leadership.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Lukashenko had offered to mediate, with Putin’s agreement, because he had known Prigozhin personally for about 20 years. Minsk has been a key ally for Putin in his war with Ukraine.
As part of the deal, the criminal charges against Prigozhin for leading the “armed coup” will be dropped.
Wagner troops that took part in the rebellion would similarly be spared from prosecution, Mr Peskov said.
Earlier on Saturday, Prigozhin ordered his fighters to halt their march on Moscow and return to their bases in a surprise turnaround.
Follow the latest updates below
09:37 PM BST
Streets of Rostov-on-Don reopening
Streets in the centre of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don were being reopened to traffic on Saturday night as the Wagner mercenary fighters who had taken control of key facilities began to pull out, the Interfax news agency reported.
09:05 PM BST
Charges against Prigozhin dropped, says Lukashenko
The office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Saturday that he had brokered a deal with mutinous Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin who had agreed to de-escalate the situation.
The announcement, carried on the official Telegram channel of the Belarusian presidency, said Prigozhin had agreed to halt the further movement of Wagner fighters across Russia.
The Kremlin confirmed a deal had been struck and that Prigozhin would have all charges against him dropped and move to Belarus.
“The president of Belarus, having further clarified the situation through his own available channels, held talks with the head of the Wagner PMC (private military company), Yevgeny Prigozhin, in coordination with the President of Russia,” the Belarusian statement said.
“The talks lasted for an entire day. As a result, they came to an agreement on the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloodbath on the territory of Russia.”
09:01 PM BST
Ukraine will ‘press the advantage’
Ukraine will “press the advantage” in battle after Russia was left in disarray following an uprising by leader of the Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin, a leading Russia expert has said.
Dr Patricia Lewis, director of the International Security programme at Chatham House think tank, told the Press Association: “Ukraine will press the advantage right now.
“There will be a lot of uncertainty in the (Russian) troops and it will be prime time to double up the efforts in the counter-offensive.
“Ukraine will get a bit of a break from this and you don’t know quite how the Wagner troops will react. They (Ukraine) will also have a morale boost.”
However, she said she did not believe the uprising will cause the Russian army to collapse.
08:30 PM BST
The world saw Russia’s leaders ‘do not control anything,’ says Zelensky
08:20 PM BST
Watch: Footage of Wagner fighters apparently packing up and leaving Rostov
08:14 PM BST
South Russian province eases restrictions after Wagner march stopped
Authorities in the southern Russian region of Lipetsk began lifting restrictions after the Wagner group, which had entered the province earlier, announced it would fall back.
“We are beginning to lift restrictions introduced today,” Governor Igor Artamonov said on Telegram.
08:09 PM BST
Putin thanks Belarus leader, Minsk says, after Wagner turnaround
Minsk said that Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko after the chief of Wagner announced he was turning around his forces.
“The President of Belarus informed the President of Russia in detail about the results of negotiations with the leadership of PMC Wagner,” Mr Lukashenko’s press service said in a statement, adding Putin “thanked his Belarusian colleague.”
The chief of the rebel Wagner mercenary force threatened to march on Moscow on Saturday before announcing a stunning pull-back, saying he did not want to spill blood.
07:59 PM BST
Earlier pictures of authorities on high alert in Moscow before Wagner called off its mutiny
07:41 PM BST
Everything we know so far about the now abandoned ‘coup’
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who leads the mercenary group, stood his troops down in a shock twist.
The head of the Wagner group said he had called off the advance of troops to the Russian captial to “avoid bloodshed”.
Prigozhin said his fighters had advanced to within 124 miles of Moscow in the last 24 hours, with the capital’s mayor telling Russian residents to remain home as they braced for their arrival.
Here is a look at the past 24r hours leading up to that moment.
07:21 PM BST
‘Ukrainian forces have advanced on the eastern front’
Ukraine’s military said that its forces had made advances near Bakhkmut, one of the focal points of fighting on the eastern front, and in an area further south.
Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar, writing on Telegram, said an offensive was launched near a of group of villages ringing Bakhmut — the town taken by Russia’s Wagner mercenary forces last month after months of fighting.
“In all these areas, we have made advances,” Ms Maliar wrote.
07:03 PM BST
A translation of Mr Prigozhin’s speech announcing an end to the march
07:00 PM BST
Belarus says Russian mercenary boss Prigozhin has agreed to de-escalate situation
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said he had negotiated with Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin an end to the movement of his mercenary troops inside Russia in order to deescalate the situation.
Mr Lukashenko said he was acting in agreement with Putin, who had earlier vowed to crush the armed insurrection.
“Yevgeny Prigozhin has accepted the proposal of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on stopping the movement of armed individuals from the Wagner group on Russian territory and further steps on deescalating tensions,” Lukashenko’s press service said in a statement.
06:56 PM BST
We are turning back, says Prigozhin
“We are turning our columns around and going back to field camps,” Yevgeny Prigozhin announced after vowing to march on Moscow to topple the military leadership.
He said he understood the importance of the moment and did not want to “spill Russian blood.”
06:55 PM BST
There is chaos in Russia, bring your troops home, says Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a revolt by Wagner mercenary troops in Russia exposed complete chaos in the country.
“Today the world can see that the masters of Russia control nothing. And that means nothing. Simply complete chaos. An absence of any predictability,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
He said Ukrainians would not be silent, would not remain inactive, and that “the security of Europe’s eastern flank depends strictly on our defences”.
06:21 PM BST
Ukrainians watch with delight as Wagner mutiny unfolds
Kyiv residents told AFP on Saturday that they were “very happy” with the Wagner mercenary group’s mutiny against Moscow and hoped the infighting would weaken Russian troops on the battlefield.
Wagner mercenaries who have been spearheading much of the fighting in Ukraine have rebelled against Russia’s military leaders and are advancing north towards Moscow after seizing a key military base in the south.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to defeat the revolt and head off the threat of civil war.
People on the streets of the Ukrainian capital reacted with delight.
“I expected something” like this to happen “but not so fast,” said Ilya Tsvirkun, 21. “I thought it would all start after the war ends. But it started earlier and it’s very good.”
He said he thought Putin “will withdraw some troops” from Ukraine to help tackle the mutiny at home, making it easier for Ukrainian forces.
06:09 PM BST
Ukraine claims new offensives and advances
Ukrainian forces have launched several new offensives on their eastern front, confronting Russian troops in the Donbas region, and have claimed more ground, a minister said.
Deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar said Ukrainian forces had assaulted Russian lines near the towns of Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bakhmut, Bohdanivka, Yagidne, Klishchivka and Kurdyumivka.
“There is progress in all directions,” she said.
06:00 PM BST
Ukraine must seize the moment to triumph on the battlefield
This is a decisive moment in the war, with Russian forces in disarray and Kyiv ready to attack, writes Richard Kemp.
Russia’s armed mutiny has come at the worst time for Putin and the best time for Kyiv, with Yevgeny Prigozhin dealing a devastating blow against Moscow’s ability to project itself on the front lines in Ukraine.
It isn’t just that the Kremlin’s authority is under fire, but that crucial military resources – such as the Rostov-on-Don headquarters of the Southern Military District, a critical logistics hub – are now on the verge of paralysis.
The consequences for troops on the frontline will be severe. They may soon be without direction, either at a political or tactical level.
Read the full piece
05:45 PM BST
Pictured: Cars clog the highway to Moscow as the Wagner group advances towards the capital
05:37 PM BST
France advises against all travel to Russia
France has advised against all travel to Russia given the “high volatility” of the military and security situation in the country, its foreign ministry said on Saturday on its website.
05:30 PM BST
Watch: Wagner recruitment posters in Russia being torn down amid armed mutiny
05:18 PM BST
Kremlin denies Putin has fled Moscow
A Kremlin spokesman has denied reports that Vladimir Putin has fled Moscow by plane.
One of several planes that Putin uses for official visits took off from Moscow at 2.15 pm local time, according to Flight Radar, which tracks aircraft in real-time.
Less than half an hour later, it went off radar about 150 kilometres from Mr Putin’s official residence.
“Putin is working at the Kremlin,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Tass news agency when asked about reports of Putin going to the northwest, possibly St Petersburg.
04:49 PM BST
Pictured: The flight Putin is suspected of taking out of Moscow but which the Kremlin has denied
04:45 PM BST
Watch: Prigozhin says Putin was wrong to accuse him of treason
04:36 PM BST
Medvedev warns of catastrophe if nuclear weapons fall into wrong hands
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said the whole world will be on the brink of catastrophe if Russian nuclear weapons fall into the hands of ‘bandits’.
Mr Medvedev earlier called on Russians to rally around President Putin amid a mutiny by the Wagner Group.
04:28 PM BST
Mapped: Wagner’s advance on Moscow
After entering Russia from the city of Rostov, Prigozhin and his troops are said to have reached the Lipetsk region. With their stated aim being to reach Moscow, this appears to be the route they will take.
04:15 PM BST
Vladimir Putin’s mad dog was always going to bite him
The Wagner group, and their cruel leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, have only contempt for authority, writes Con Coughlin
When Vladimir Putin authorised the creation of the Wagner Group back in 2014, the aim was to provide him with his own private army that would help him to expand Russia’s global reach. So the Russian president has only himself to blame for the fact that, rather than fulfilling his dream of reestablishing Russia as a major world power, the mercenary monster he helped to create is now attempting to overthrow his autocratic regime.
But then what did Putin expect when he opted to make a known criminal like Yevgeny Prigozhin head of the Wagner Group? Prior to his sudden emergence on the Kremlin scene, Prigozhin’s main claim to fame was the 13-year stretch in a Russian penal colony he was given for his role in the violent mugging of a young woman in St Petersburg.
Prigozhin may have tried to portray himself as a reformed character after his release, making his fortune running restaurants, but his criminal instincts have never been far from the surface in his running of Wagner.
Read the full piece
04:02 PM BST
Don’t use Wagner to achieve Russophobic goals, Russia’s foreign minsitry warns west
Russia’s foreign ministry warned Western countries against using the Wagner mercenary group’s mutiny “to achieve their Russophobic goals”.
It follows a statement on Friday in which it said it had increased the number of EU representatives barred from Russia in response to new European sanctions on the country.
03:38 PM BST
Mapped: Wagner’s global operations
Once a small shadowy organisation, the Wagner group has grown into a global military contractor. Here is a look at where it operates:
03:26 PM BST
Kadyrov forces have reportedly reached Rostov
Local media is reporting that forces of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov have reached Rostov.
A loyal Putin ally, Mr Kadyrov earlier said he was ready to help put down a mutiny by the Wagner group and to use harsh methods if necessary.
03:17 PM BST
Turkey’s Erdogan urges Putin to act with common sense
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with Putin on Saturday and urged him to act with common sense.
The pair discussed recent developments in Russia and Mr Erdogan told Putin that Turkey was ready to do its part to help bring about a peaceful solution to the situation.
03:02 PM BST
Wagner forces have reached the Lipetsk region, south of Moscow, says governor
Wagner mercenaries were “moving across” the Lipetsk region some 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of Moscow, the governor said on Saturday, en route to Moscow after vowing to overthrow Russia’s military leadership.
“Hardware of the Wagner mercenary group is moving across the territory of the Lipetsk region,” governor Igor Artamonov said on Telegram.
“I remind you that residents are strongly recommended not to leave their houses or to make trips on any mode of transport.”
02:56 PM BST
Prigozhin says cash found near his St Petersburg office was for Wagner expenses
Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said that boxes of cash found in vehicles near his office in St Petersburg by the FSB security service were to cover salaries and other expenses for his Wagner fighters.
Unconfirmed Russian media reports said the cardboard boxes contained 4 billion roubles (£36.7 million).
02:47 PM BST
We are running out of popcorn, jokes Ukrainian official
An adviser to Ukraine’s defence minister has made no attempt to hide his glee at the chaos gripping Russia right now.
Speaking to the BBC, Yuriy Sak said “We are little-by-little running out of popcorn”.
His comments came as others riffed on the idea on social media with a series of memes and videos.
02:26 PM BST
Russian helicopter gunships open fire on Wagner forces
Russian military helicopters have opened fire on a convoy of rebel mercenaries already more than half way towards Moscow in a lightning advance after seizing a southern city overnight.
President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush an armed mutiny he compared to Russia’s Civil War a century ago.
Fighters from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private Wagner militia were in control of Rostov-on-Don, a city of more than a million people close to the border with Ukraine, and were rapidly advancing northwards through western Russia.
A Reuters journalist saw army helicopters open fire at an armed Wagner column that was advancing past the city of Voronezh with troop carriers and at least one tank on a flatbed truck. The city is more than half way along the 680-mile highway from Rostov to Moscow.
02:03 PM BST
In pictures: Latest scenes in Russia of the Wagner insurrection against military generals
01:46 PM BST
Belarus sticking with Russia, saying infighting a gift to the West
Belarus says it remains an ally of Russia and that internal disputes are a “gift to collective west”
Belarus has been the Kremlin’s staunchest ally since Russia declared war on Ukraine last year. It has allowed the Kremlin to station a batch of tactical nuclear weapons there.
01:31 PM BST
How Prigozhin’s battle-hardened Wagner mercenaries launched a coup
A mutiny that started over differences about how the Kremlin could win the war may end what little chances of victory Russia still has, writes Colin Freeman
Anyone who follows Yevgeny Prigozhin’s social media channels knows that he does not exactly toe the Kremlin line.
The boss of the Wagner mercenary group is notorious for his foul-mouthed outbursts about Moscow’s handling of the war in Ukraine, accusing Vladimir Putin’s generals of being blundering “motherf—-rs” who squander soldiers’ lives.
On Friday night, though, what the Kremlin normally tries to dismiss as salty rhetoric crossed the line into open rebellion.
Shortly after 10pm Russian time, a video appeared on Mr Prigozhin’s Telegram feed showing what purported to be a missile strike on a Wagner training camp.
Read the full story
01:13 PM BST
Listen to our journalists discuss the situation in Russia unfolding right now
01:09 PM BST
Wagner chief says his forces took army HQ without firing a single shot
Prigozhin said that his troops had not needed to fire a single shot when they took control of the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District in Rostov.
In a new audio message released by his press service, he said his men had been fired on by artillery and helicopters en route to Rostov however.
12:58 PM BST
Next 48 hours will decide Russia’s political future, says advisor to Zelensky
Next 48 hours will determine whether Russia is engulfed in a “full-fledged Civil War or a negotiated Transit of Power”, says Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to President Zelensky.
12:50 PM BST
Putin working in the Kremlin, says spokesman
President Putin is working in the Kremlin, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.
Putin earlier vowed to crush the Wagner Group’s armed mutiny.
12:38 PM BST
Qatar calls for ‘maximum restraint’
Qatar has expressed concerns over the situation in Russia, calling for “maximum restraint”.
Major gas-exporter Qatar has sought a largely neutral stance on the conflict but moves by the Gulf Arab state, including its criticism of Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory, have led to fraying relations with Moscow.
12:29 PM BST
Officials in Russia’s Lipetsk region urge residents to stay home
Authorities in Russia’s southwestern Lipetsk region have urged residents to stay at home.
“To ensure law and order and the safety of the citizens of the Lipetsk region, the operational headquarters of the region asks residents without urgent need not to leave their homes and refrain from any travel by personal or public transport,” the press service of the regional government said.
12:15 PM BST
Watch: Wagner head Prigozhin claims control of Russia’s Rostov-on-Don in Kremlin coup
12:14 PM BST
UK Government to hold emergency Cobra meeting
The UK Government is to hold an emergency ‘Cobra’ committee meeting to discuss the ongoing situation in Russia, the BBC reports.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had previously told BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “We’re keeping a close eye on the situation as it’s evolving on the ground as we speak.
“We’re in touch with our allies and, in fact, I’ll be speaking to some of them later today.”
12:08 PM BST
Russian army helicopters open fire on Wagner convoy
Russian army helicopters have opened fire on a Wagner mercenary military convoy on the M4 highway outside the city of Voronezh on Saturday, a Reuters witness said.
11:51 AM BST
Kuleba: ‘Those who said Russia was too strong to lose: look now’
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on “those who said Russia was too strong to lose” to “look now”, following the armed uprising by the Wagner group, and he issued a plea for more weapons for Kyiv.
