Moscow: After Wagner mercenary force chief Yevgeny Prigozhin decided to halt his forces' march to Moscow under deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kremlin spokesperson said the charges against the Wagner leader who led armed mutiny against the country's military leadership would be dropped, The New York Times reported.
"The Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S Peskov said Prigozhin will go to Belarus, and the fighters who rebelled with him would not be prosecuted by law given their "service at the front. Wagner fighters who did not participate in the mutiny can sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense, New York Times quoted Peskov as saying.
This comes shortly after the Belarusian president stated he was in talks with Prigozhin about an agreement to de-escalate tensions. Taking to Twitter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus wrote, "At 9 p.m. tonight, the Presidents spoke again by phone. The President of Belarus Lukashenko informed the President of Russia about the results of negotiations the leader of the Wagner Group. President Putin thanked his counterpart for the work done. According to several videos circulating on social media, Wagner's armoured vehicles started departing the military centre of Rostov-on-Don in southwest Russia on Saturday night. However, Prighozin did not mention about it earlier whether his forces were backtracking from the southern city of Rostov-on-Don as well, where critical military and civilian buildings were seized.
The news came as a Wagner convoy drew closer to Moscow, several hours after members of the private military outfit passed through the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. In a series of video statements released since Friday, Prigozhin declared that he was advancing on Moscow to confront Russian military officials he deemed corrupt.Prigozhin garnered no support from the Russian establishment. Instead, Putin accused the Wagner chief of "backstabbing our country and our people," while Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) opened a criminal investigation into Prigozhin for "calling for an armed rebellion."Senior Russian political and military figures denounced Prigozhin's mutiny, and called on Wagner fighters to lay down their arms. Shortly after Lukashenko's announcement, Prigozhin confirmed that his troops were abandoning their push to Moscow and returning to their field camps. (Agencies)
