The leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yefgueni Prigozhin, reported that he had ordered his fighters to stop advancing towards the Russian capital, according to media reports.
Prigozhin said that although his men were within 200 kilometers of Moscow, he had given the order to fall back to bases in Ukraine to avoid "spilling Russian blood."
This was reported by AP, which also noted that"Putin's chef" - as Prigozhin is known - avoided mentioning whether Russian authorities had accepted his demand to sack Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
However, the specialized account OSINTdefender reported that Russian media reportedly announced changes in the country's military leadership. These would include the aforementioned Shoigu and Chief of the Army General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
According to Russian State Media, Major Changes to the Leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense including changes to the current Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu and Army Chief of General Staff, Valery Gerasimov have reportedly been Agreed upon in order to Stop the March of… pic.twitter.com/PTKRMnGhX6
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 24, 2023
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said in a statement that he had mediated the ceasefire, according to AP. The agreement would include guarantees for the safety of Wagner members.
Wagner Group mercenaries began to withdraw from Rostov on Saturday night. A Reuters journalist witnessed how the organization's forces withdrew from the district's military headquarters, which they had seized hours earlier. According to Prigozhin, they made this decision to avoid bloodshed.
Kremlin will not move forward in its criminal case against Prigozhin
This was confirmed by spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who clarified that no charges will be brought against the officers in the uprising either. "You ask me what will happen to Prigozhin. The criminal case against him will be withdrawn and he will go to Belarus. We have always respected his heroic deeds at the front," he said.
