The troops of the Wagner Group heading towards Moscow after a day on the road were ordered to turn back to prevent bloodshed, and there was a risk of this, the head of the mercenary formation Yevgeny Prigozhin announced early Saturday evening. According to Minsk’s communiqué, the conversation with Prigozhin – which seems to have led to a temporary calming of the situation – was mediated by the Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenko with the consent of Vladimir Putin.
In an audio statement, Prigozhin said that the Wagner Group had reached a distance of 200 km from Moscow and during that time “did not shed a single drop of the blood of its soldiers.” He added that “now the moment has come when this bloodshed can take place”, so “realizing the responsibility” for such a situation, the mercenaries begin to retreat.
“We’re going back to the field camps,” announced Prigozhin.
Yevgeny PrigozhinPAP/Newscom
The agreement was to be mediated by Alyaksandr Lukashenko
Around the same time, Alyaksandr Lukashenko’s office reported that he had spoken with Prigozhin, and he had agreed to stop the mercenary column heading for Moscow. Lukashenko conducted these talks in consultation with Vladimir Putin Minsk said. According to the Reuters agency, Lukashenko’s law firm claims that he mediated an agreement to stop the march of the Wagner Group in exchange for security guarantees for the mercenaries.
Reports of the retreat of the Wagner Group came at a time when, according to various reports, troops of about 5,000 men were in several districts Russia and headed towards the capital of the country.
There was even information, difficult to verify, about the presence of mercenaries already in the Moscow region – in Serpukhov and Kaszyr.
In reaction to the march of the mercenaries, all crossings over the Oka were blocked in the Moscow region. Reserve units of soldiers sent from other regions of Russia arrived in Moscow on Saturday evening, according to the independent portal Vazhnye Istoria.
Main photo source: PAP/Newscom