Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Progozhin has left Russia after a failed attempt to march into Moscow in what he called a "march for justice" against the Russian Defense Ministry.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media late Saturday (June 24) the restaurateur-turned-mercenary boss has agreed with the Kremlin to relocate to Belarus in exile after its president, Alexander Lukashenko, brokered a deal between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lukashenko held two meetings with both parties to negotiate the deal, which included "security guarantees for the Wagner PMC fighters."
The deal also meant all of Prigozhin's criminal charges related to the Wagner mutiny would be dropped.
Prigozhin, on the other hand, did not say anything about the deal and if his demand for Putin to sack Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was acted upon but said the about-face was decided to prevent any bloodshed between Russians.
Rostov Gives Prigozhin a Hero's Farewell
Wagner contractors have left the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don after over 24 hours of occupying it. Many people lined the streets of Rostov to cheer Prigozhin and send the mercenaries off as they were ordered to return to field camps in Ukraine. Prigozhin earlier occupied a Russian Defense Ministry building in the city before leaving with his troops.
The Wagner column came to about 100 miles (160.9km) short of entering Moscow before Prigozhin ordered them to turn back.
While Prigozhin was promised safe passage into Belarus as agreed upon in the deal, his exact whereabouts remain unknown as of this report.
Putin Weakened by Wagner Uprising
While the Wagner mutiny was unsuccessful, the incident proved to be a massive blow to Putin's power projection, exposing his weakness in dealing with Prigozhin.
In recent months, the Wagner boss was given free rein to criticize Shoigu and Russian Armed Forces chief General Valeriy Gerasimov for using Wagner troops as cannon fodder. Such remarks were part of Putin's apparent power play of "divide and conquer."
As a result of the mutiny, Ukraine was emboldened to strengthen its counteroffensive against Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Putin was "very afraid" after Prigozhin's attempt to storm the Russian capital.
"The man from the Kremlin is obviously very afraid and probably hiding somewhere, not showing himself," he said in Russian. "[Putin] knows what he is afraid of because he himself created this threat. All evil, all losses, all hatred - he himself spreads it."
Meanwhile, former Russian prime minister and Putin critic Mikhail Kasyanov told the BBC the Wagner mutiny spelled the beginning of the end for Putin. He said Prigozhin destroyed Putin's political stability and that his life would be under a "big question."
Kasyanov added that Prigozhin might go to Africa after reaching Belarus.
