New Delhi: Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Wagner, a Russian private military company, announced Saturday that he has called off his mercenaries’ advance on Moscow and ordered them to return to their bases in Ukraine, news agency AP reported. He said he wanted to avoid ‘spilling Russian blood’ in a confrontation with President Vladimir Putin’s government.
The move seemed to ease a tense standoff that posed the biggest threat to Putin’s rule in his more than 20 years in power. Moscow had prepared for the arrival of the rogue mercenary force by setting up roadblocks with troops and armored vehicles on its southern outskirts. Red Square was closed, and the mayor asked drivers to avoid some roads.
Prigozhin said his men were only 200 kilometers (120 miles) away from Moscow when he decided to call them back. He didn’t say if Moscow had answered his demand to remove Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The Kremlin didn’t comment immediately.
The announcement came after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s office said that he had brokered a deal with Prigozhin after talking to Putin. Prigozhin agreed to stop the march in a proposed agreement that offers security guarantees for Wagner troops, Lukashenko’s office said. It didn’t give details.
Vladimir Putin Warned Of Harsh Consequences
Facing the first serious challenge to his 23-year reign, President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush a mutiny by armed mercenaries that he compared to the Civil War in Russia a hundred years ago. In a national address on Saturday, Putin promised to protect the country and its people from the rebellion led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former ally and the owner of the Wagner private military company. Putin said the uprising was “a mortal danger to our statehood” and pledged “harsh measures” in response. “All those who plotted the mutiny will face inevitable justice.
The armed forces and other state agencies have been given the necessary commands,” Putin said. He denounced Prigozhin’s actions, without naming him directly, as “a treachery” and “a treason.” He appealed to “those who are being lured into this crime not to make a fatal and tragic, one-of-a-kind mistake, to make the only correct decision — to stop taking part in criminal acts.”
Moscow Mayor Declares Off On Monday
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin warned that some parts of the city could see traffic restrictions and declared Monday a day off for most residents. Workers tore up sections of roads to hinder the advance of the Wagner mercenaries. Red Square was closed off, two major museums were cleared and a park was shut.
Wagner Group Seizes Rostov
The Wagner fighters, who had fought the bloodiest battles in Ukraine even as they fell out with the top brass for months, were already nearing the capital, having taken over the city of Rostov and embarked on an 1,100 km (680 mile) dash to Moscow. Prigozhin, who claimed to have seized the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District in Rostov without a single shot, said he was close to the capital. In Rostov, which serves as the main supply base for Russia’s entire invasion force, people walked around calmly, filming on their phones as Wagner fighters in armoured vehicles and tanks took positions.