The office of Alexander Lukashenko said the decision to halt further movement of Wagner fighters was brokered by the Belarusian president, with Putin's approval, in return for guarantees for their safety. Video earlier showed convoys of Wagner vehicles less than 310 miles (500 km) from Moscow. Reuters could not independently verify how far Prigozhin's mercenaries had reached. that Russian blood will be spilled on one side, we are turning our columns around and going back to field camps as planned." In this time we did not spill a single drop of our fighters' blood," Prigozhin, dressed in full combat uniform at an undisclosed location, said in a video. "In 24 hours we got to within 200 km of Moscow. On Saturday night, Wagner fighters loaded tanks on trailers and began withdrawing from the Rostov military headquarters they had seized, a Reuters witness said. The Wagner fighters captured the city of Rostov hundreds of miles to the south before racing in convoy through the country, transporting tanks and armoured trucks and smashing through barricades set up to stop them, video showed. Earlier, Moscow deployed soldiers in preparation for their arrival and told residents to avoid going out. Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and founder of the Wagner army, said his men reached within 125 miles (200 km) of the capital. ROSTOV-ON-DON/VORONEZH, Russia, June 24 (Reuters) - Heavily armed Russian mercenaries who advanced most of the way to Moscow began turning back on Saturday, de-escalating a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin's grip on power, in a move their leader said would avoid bloodshed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |