In this handout photo taken from video released by Prigozhin Press Service, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, records his video addresses in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Saturday, June 24, 2023.
Prigozhin Press Service via Associated Press
Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin will move to Belarus and won’t be prosecuted, a Kremlin spokesman said.
Prigozhin and his mercenary group waged an uprising and marched across Russia on Saturday.
The group stopped just short of Moscow as Prigozhin said he did not want to shed Russian blood.
The Kremlin has forged a deal with Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin to defuse the mercenary group’s uprising on Saturday.
In exchange for Prigozhin’s exile to Belarus, the mercenary leader won’t be prosecuted, the Associated Press reported, citing a Kremlin spokesperson.
The reported agreement comes after a paramilitary rebellion on Saturday in which the Wagner Group marched across Russia before suddenly turning around just 120 miles from Moscow. Prigozhin said he didn’t want to shed Russian blood.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced Saturday that Prigozhin — and the troops who follow him — will not face criminal prosecution as part of the deal. He also said those troops who did not join in the uprising would be offered Defense Ministry contracts.
Saturday’s rebellion marked the strongest threat to President Vladimir Putin’s power in over 20 years.
Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko, a close Putin ally who has also long known Prigozhin, spent all day Saturday negotiating with Prigozhin, according to The New York Times.
Prigozhin was once, himself, a close Putin ally, but tensions have grown high since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Wagner Group’s rebellion first began Friday. By the next day, Putin had formally accused Prigozhin of treason and issued a warrant for his arrest.
Moscow had been bracing for violence, with residents fleeing, city officials warning people to stay home, and workers destroying the highways leading into the city.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.