Russian mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has told his troops advancing on Moscow to turn back, saying he wants to avoid shedding Russian blood.
It comes after Moscow’s residents were asked to stop travelling around Russia’s capital and security services had set up machine gun positions on its outskirts as the rebel convoy of mercenaries neared the city.
In an audio message, Prigozhin said his fighters – part of the private mercenary Wagner Group – would return to their bases.
He said that while his men were just 120 miles from Moscow, he decided to turn them back to avoid “shedding Russian blood”.
In an audio message to his colleagues, Prigozhin said: “In 24 hours we reached within 200km of Moscow. Over that time we didn’t shed a single drop of our men’s blood.
“Now though the time has come when blood might be shed. Therefore, mindful of the responsibility that Russian blood might be shed by one of the parties, we are turning our columns round and moving off in the opposite direction, to the field camps, according to plan.”
Reuters reported the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko had brokered an agreement between Prigozhin and Vladimir Putin.
Earlier, the Russian president accused the leader of the Wagner group of treason and leading an “armed mutiny”.
But Prigozhin denied a betrayal and called his fighters “patriots”.
The convoy had earlier moved rapidly from Russia’s south and was thought to be around the Lipetsk region, around 300 miles (500km) from the centre of Moscow, before it was put to an end.
Earlier, Russian media showed groups of police manning machine gun positions at Moscow’s southern border.
The crisis came as Prigozhin claimed he and his troops had reached Rostov-on-Don after crossing the Russian border from Ukraine and taken control of key sites including the airfield.
The city is home to the Russian military headquarters that directs the invading forces in Ukraine.
The mercenary group was also said to have seized defence facilities in the city of Voronezh, around 310 miles (500km) south of Moscow.
The Russian army carried out “combat measures” in the Voronezh region “as part of the counter-terrorist operation”, according to its governor Alexander Gusev.
In a televised address earlier, Putin said: “It’s the equivalent to armed mutiny.
“Russia will defend itself and repel this move.
“We are fighting the life and security of our citizens.
“It’s an attempt to subvert us from inside.
“This is a stab in the back to our troops and the people of Russia.”
He added: “The entire military, economic and information machine of the West is waged against us.
“This battle, when the fate of our people is being decided, requires the unification of all forces, unity, consolidation and responsibility.
“Those who plotted and organised an armed rebellion, who raised arms against his comrades-in-arms, betrayed Russia. And they will answer for it.”
