The leader of the private military company Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, orchestrated an unsuccessful coup that attracted global attention but quickly fizzled out within two days. Prigozhin and his forces took control of Rostov-on-Don on Friday, a city with a population of 1.1 million that housed the headquarters of the Southern District Military.
However, before reaching Moscow, a deal was announced granting immunity to all participants of the coup who returned to training camps.
As part of the agreement, Prigozhin is said to be exiled to Belarus.
This development was also reported by The New York Post:
Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenary fighting force will not face charges and will instead be exiled despite leading an armed insurrection against Moscow Saturday, the Kremlin said.
The criminal case against Prigozhin will be dropped and the mercenary group leader will go to Belarus instead of facing prosecution in Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said.
Any of Prigozhin’s troops who marched in the rebellion will also avoid charges for their “service” on the front lines of the war in Ukraine, Peskov said.
Instead, they will be given the opportunity to sign contracts to join the Russian military, Russian news outlet TASS reported.
The deal comes after the Wagner Group took control of the southern city of Rostov and began moving towards Moscow in an armed convoy.
The mutiny came after Prigozhin claimed the military had killed his fighters in an air strike, which the Russian Defense Ministry denied.
Prigozhin, whose men fought the bloodiest battles of the 16-month war in Ukraine, including in Bakhmut, also slammed Moscow leadership — namely Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov — who he accused of withholding ammunition from his fighters.
However, Prigozhin eventually agreed to halt the Wagner Group’s advance on Moscow just 120 miles from the capital city after a day-long negation the mercenary leader had with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who was given permission to broker a deal with Progozhin by Vladimir Putin.
Both sides ultimately agreed it was “unacceptable to start a bloodbath in Russia’s territory,” according to a press release from Lukashenko’s administration.
“At present an absolutely advantageous and acceptable variant to defuse the situation is available, including safety guarantees for fighters of the private military company Wagner,” Belarus officials said.
