Moscow, 25 June 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Wagner private military chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has agreed to leave Russia for Belarus under a deal announced by the Kremlin, ending a rebellion by the heavily armed paramilitary group that posed the biggest threat to Vladimir Putin in his 23 years in power.

 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said late Saturday that criminal charges against Prigozhin for staging an armed uprising against the Russian military leadership would be dropped and the oligarch-turned-warlord would be allowed to go to Belarus.

 

Putin had mobilized Russian troops after Prigozhin led his rebel mercenaries on a brief insurgency that saw them occupy the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and approach Moscow in a convoy - an uprising that grabbed the world's attention and raised the spectre of civil war.

 

The insurrection was abruptly halted a few hundred kilometres from the Russian capital late Saturday when a deal was brokered by Belarus to defuse the crisis, according to the Kremlin.

 

Wagner troops were seen leaving Rostov-on-Don and returning to their field camps outside the city. The regional governor, Vasily Golubev, told Russian state agency TASS that the force had departed by early Sunday.

 

Long-time Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko has personally known Prigozhin for 20 years.

 

Peskov said that in a telephone conversation with Lukashenko, Putin had expressed his gratitude that Prigozhin was offered exile in Belarus, saying the move prevented bloodshed.

 

Wagner fighters would also not be prosecuted for their actions in light of their services at the front in Ukraine, the Kremlin spokesman said. He did not say whether other concessions had been made to convince Prigozhin to back down.

 

"Our columns are turning around and going back to the field camps in the opposite direction," Prigozhin said, according to a voice message published by his press service on Telegram.

 

So far, "not a drop of blood of our fighters" had been spilled, he said. "Now the moment has come when blood could be spilled." Therefore, he said, it was time to turn the columns around.

 

It is not clear what Prigozhin, who has earned billions through contracts from the Russian state, will do in the future.

 

Peskov also said he was not aware of any change in Putin's support of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. The minister has been the target of fierce social media tirades by Prigozhin in recent weeks.

 

Prigozhin has blamed Shoigu and Russia's top general, Valery Gerasimov, of incompetence and blamed them for the multitude of battlefield failures Russian forces have suffered in Ukraine.

 

But the power struggle between Prigozhin and the Russian military leadership suddenly escalated on Friday when the Wagner boss accused Shoigu of ordering an attack on a camp belonging to his forces.

 

Wagner forces have played a critical role in Moscow's 16-month all-out invasion of Ukraine, including capturing the eastern city of Bakhmut. They mercenaries often fight alongside Russian professional troops.

 

After the alleged attack on his camp, which the Russian Defence Ministry denied, Prigozhin announced on Friday a "march of justice" to punish those responsible.

 

His troops set off from Rostov-on-Don, where they occupied military facilities, then reached the halfway point to Moscow, in Lipetsk, on Saturday afternoon.

 

In Moscow, the city authorities had set up a checkpoint on at least one section of the road ringing the Russian capital and announced a series of security measures.

 

State media posted a video that showed soldiers, an armoured personnel carrier and a barrier made of sandbags.

 

But all roadblocks on the access roads around Moscow were lifted early on Sunday morning, according to reports.

 

Earlier on Saturday, Putin spoke of an "armed mutiny" and told the rebels they would face "inevitable punishment" in a televised address to the nation.

 

Putin branded former ally Prigozhin a traitor, saying, "this is a stab in the back of our country and our people."

 

In response, the mercenary chief accused Putin of completely misjudging the situation.

 

"The president is gravely mistaken," he said in a voice message on his Telegram channel.

 

Describing his own role, he said, "We are patriots of our homeland."

 

It was the first time Prigozhin, who says he has about 25,000 fighters at his disposal, had openly challenged Putin. The Russian armed forces have about 1.5 million members.