Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko announced Saturday that he had brokered a deal between Vladimir Putin and Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin to avert an armed conflict, with the latter’s forces halting their advance toward Moscow which had thrown the wartime leadership and the nation itself into a state of crisis.
The agreement will prevent “a bloodbath on the territory of Russia,” Lukashenko said, claiming the deal is “absolutely advantageous and acceptable” for Wagner, without referencing specific details.
Prigozhin confirmed the arrangement in an audio statement released on Saturday night, confirming that mercenary forces were “turning around our columns and returning to field camps according to plan.”
Earlier on Saturday, Wagner Group forces had taken control of vast swaths of southern Russia, leading Putin to denounce the move as a “stab in the back” to “our county and our people.”
Several media outlets previously reported the Wagner military convoy had passed through Voroneh, covering over half the distance to Moscow by Saturday afternoon. Prigozhin’s so-called “March for Justice” has left security forces in the city on high alert.
“We are fighting for the lives and security of our people, for our sovereignty and independence, for the right to remain Russia, a state with a thousand-year history,” Putin said following news of the takeover of Ronstov-on-Don was publicized.
“All those who deliberately stepped on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed insurrection, who took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, will answer both to the law and to our people.”
Putin vowed “decisive actions” to quell this “armed rebellion” as units across southwestern Russia scrambled to intercept the force. A “counterterrorist operation regime” was declared in Moscow given authorities upgraded emergency powers, the New York Times reports.
Local residents have been instructed to avoid driving on roads and stay home.
Videos circulating on social-media reportedly show mercenary forces in the Voronezh Oblast, a province which borders eastern Ukraine, boasting the destruction of three Russian military helicopters and one military transport.
In the clip, the Wagner soldier implores Russian military forces not to intervene as mercenary units head for Moscow. “Next, we’ll be moving only on Moscow,” the camouflaged soldier tells viewers.
The complex relationship between Prigozhin and Putin has strained in recent months against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine. In May, the Wagner Group removed mercenaries from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, citing Russian military incompetence and mismanagement.
"I am withdrawing the Wagner PMC units from Bakhmut, because in the absence of ammunition they are doomed to senseless death," Prigozhin said in full military fatigues and carrying an automatic weapon.
The military leader also released a statement to the same effect saying his forces had no choice but to withdraw to rear bases to "lick the wounds."
The group has been widely condemned in the West for its human-rights violations, with many members of Congress calling to designate Wagner a foreign terrorist organization. The Biden administration has so far declined to do so.
According to Western intelligence, Wagner deployed some 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, many of them prisoners. In early May, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that 20,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since December alone, half of whom were Wagner fighters on the frontlines in Bakhmut.
The British Defence Ministry said the crisis is the "most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter that "Russia's weakness is obvious," adding "the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain, and problems it will have for itself later."
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