Wagner paramilitary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin says he has halted the advance of his troops on the Russian capital Moscow and they are now turning around, according to a voice message published by his press service on Telegram.
“We turning our columns around and going back in the other direction toward our field camps, in accordance with the plan,” he said in a message on Telegram.
This came minutes after the Belarusian government claimed President Alexander Lukashenko had reached a deal with Prigozhin to halt the march.
- Lagos Deputy Governor, Hamzat denies renouncing Nigerian citizenship
- JAMB proposes use of mobile phones for 2023 UTME
Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to punish those behind an “armed uprising” after the head of the Wagner private military company launched an apparent insurrection, claimed control of military facilities in two Russian cities and warned his troops could head for Moscow.
Prigozhin on Friday accused Russia’s military leadership of killing his fighters in a strike on a Wagner camp, which the Russian defense ministry has denied.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia’s “weakness” has been exposed, with a Ukrainian defense spokesperson calling it a “sign of the collapse of the Putin regime.”
United States intelligence officials believe Prigozhin had been planning a major challenge to Russia’s military leadership for quite some time, according to a report by CNN
It noted that Intelligence officials briefed congressional leaders known as the Gang of Eight earlier this week concerning Wagner movements and equipment buildups near Russia, two of the people said.
US and Western intelligence officials saw signs Prigozhin was making preparations for such a move, including by massing weapons and ammunition, one western intelligence official and another person familiar with the intelligence said.
The official said they believe Prigozhin’s claims of an ammunition shortage for operations in Ukraine was deliberate deception, to help lay the groundwork for a potential military challenge to Russian leaders.
