Russia rebellion: Wagner Group troops to be absorbed into Russian military as mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin heads to Belarus
Some Wagner Group mercenaries will join the official Russian military after their leader called off their march on Moscow and agreed to relocate to Belarus.
Yevgeny Prigozhin stood down his troops, who were heading towards the Russian capital, saying he wished to avoid spilling Russian blood.
His mercenaries were reportedly just 120 miles from Moscow after Prigozhin had vowed to “destroy anyone who stands in our way”.
Yevgeny Prigozhin poses for selfies as he leaves Rostov Pic: AP
After negotiations with the Kremlin, Prigozhin, previously known as “Putin’s chef”, called an abrupt halt to the advance, which many observers had branded an attempted coup.
Wagner boss turns his troops around – Russia mutiny latest
As part of the agreement, the full details of which are yet to be revealed, it was reportedly decided that Prigozhin will leave Russia for Belarus and some of his Wagner fighters will be subsumed into the Russian military.
Wagner troops reportedly advanced north to 120 miles (200km) from Moscow when their convoy turned back
The US reportedly had intelligence that Prigozhin was building up his forces near the border with Russia for some time.
Officials briefed congressional leaders known as the Gang of Eight on the build-up earlier in the week, a person familiar with the matter said.
The person was not authorised to speak publicly and spoke to the Associated Press news agency on the condition of anonymity.
The military preparations raise questions about Prigozhin’s explanation for why he seemingly spontaneously sent his forces into Russia and whether he had instead long been planning a challenge to Russia’s military leadership.
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Wagner leader’s audio message calling off advance
Sky News’ defence and security editor Deborah Haynes said: “It all does look like a bit of theatre as opposed to the grave threat to the state that it appeared to be earlier on throughout the day.
“Vladimir Putin came out with this extraordinary statement earlier gravely cracking down on the actions of Prigozhin and his followers but now it seems all has been forgiven.
“The hope I’m assuming is that things can get back to the normal abnormality that is life in Russia during this time of war in Ukraine.
“But the events have been so extraordinary that I think it’s going to take much longer to unpick exactly what happened.”
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Wagner group cheered in captured city
In his message, 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.”
After the armed mutiny was called off, the Kremlin said all criminal charges against Prigozhin would be dropped, his Wagner fighters would not be prosecuted and he would relocate to Belarus.
“Avoiding bloodshed was more important than punishing people,” a Kremlin spokesperson said, adding that some of the Wagner fighters will be able to sign contracts with Russia’s defence ministry.
The office of Alexander Lukashenko said the decision to halt further movement of Wagner fighters was brokered by the Belarusian president, with President Vladimir Putin’s approval, in return for guarantees for their safety.
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The Kremlin said Mr Lukashenko had offered to mediate because he had known the mercenary leader personally for around 20 years.
Russia had enlisted 3,000 elite Chechen troops to be stationed in Moscow and placed machine guns on its borders, in preparation of private troops entering the capital.
Pro-Russian media reported 13 Russian soldiers were killed as part of the mutiny – but Sky News has not been able to verify the claim.
Earlier, the Russian president accused the leader of the Wagner Group of treason and leading an “armed mutiny”.
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Putin accuses Prigozhin of treason
Condemning the actions of one-time ally Prigozhin, who was leading a rebellion to oust Russia’s defence minister, Putin branded the mercenary boss’s actions a “stab in the back” to the country’s soldiers and people.
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 before the advance ended.
Russian media had shown groups of police manning machine gun positions at Moscow’s southern border.
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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.
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‘Confusion and bewilderment’ in Russia
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 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.
The Wagner forces have played a crucial role in Russia’s war in Ukraine, succeeding in taking the city of Bakhmut where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place.
Hamas’s armed group has claimed it has lost contact with two hostages as a result of Israel’s operations in Gaza – after it called on air deployments to be stopped for 24 hours.
In a statement, Hamas’s armed al-Qassam Brigades said it had demanded that Israel halt air sorties for 24 hours, starting at 6pm, in part of Gaza City, to remove the hostages from danger.
It comes a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Donald Trump and as the number of those killed in Gaza surpasses the 66,000 mark, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
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Volunteer nurse’s video diary of Gaza horrors
A total of 48 hostages are still being held captive by Hamas, the militant group which rules Gaza, with about 20 believed by Israel to still be alive. A total of 251 hostages were taken on 7 October 2023, when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel which killed 1,200 people.
Situation on the ground
In Gaza, a war-torn enclave where famine has been declared in some areas and where Israel has been accused of committing acts of genocide – which it has repeatedly denied – the almost two-year war raged on.
On Sunday, the number of those killed rose to at least 21 as five people were killed in an airstrike in the Al Naser area, local health authorities said, while medics reported 16 more deaths in strikes on houses in central Gaza.
The Civil Emergency Service in Gaza said late on Saturday that Israel had denied 73 requests, sent via international
organisations, to rescue injured Palestinians in Gaza City.
Israeli authorities had no immediate comment. The military earlier said forces were expanding operations in the city and
that five militants firing an anti-tank missile towards Israeli troops had been killed by the Israeli air force.
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‘We will get it done’
In Monday’s White House meeting, President Trump is expected to share a new 21-point proposal for an immediate ceasefire.
His proposal would include the release of all hostages within 48 hours and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave, according to three Arab officials briefed on the plan, the PA news agency reports.
A Hamas official said the group was briefed on the plan but has yet to receive an official offer from Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Hamas has said it is ready to “study any proposals positively and responsibly”.
Mr Trump, who has been one of Israel’s greatest allies, said on Sunday there is “a real chance for greatness in the Middle East”.
It is unclear, however, what Mr Trump was specifically referring to.
He said in a Truth Social post: “We have a real chance for Greatness in the Middle East. All are on board for something special, first time ever. We will get it done.”
On Friday – the same day a video of diplomats walking out on Mr Netanyahu during his address to the United Nations went viral – Mr Trump said he believed the US had reached a deal on easing fighting in Gaza, saying it “will get the hostages back” and “end the war”.
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Diplomats walk out as Israeli PM speaks at UN
“I think we maybe have a deal on Gaza, very close to a deal on Gaza,” the US president told reporters on the White House lawn as he was leaving to attend the Ryder Cup.
Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed an agreement to end the war was imminent, only for nothing to materialise.
Weeks ago, he said: “I think we’re going to have a deal on Gaza very soon.”
It was one sentence among the many words Donald Trump spoke this week that caught my attention.
Midway through a jaw-dropping news conference where he sensationally claimed to have “found an answer on autism”, he said: “Bobby (Kennedy) wants to be very careful with what he says, but I’m not so careful with what I say.”
The US president has gone from pushing the envelope to completely unfiltered.
Last Sunday, moments after Charlie Kirk‘s widow Erika had publicly forgiven her husband’s killer, Mr Trump told the congregation at his memorial service that he “hates his opponents”.
President Donald Trump embraces Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika. Pic: AP
Twenty-four hours later, he drew fierce rebuke from medical experts by linking the use of Tylenol (paracetamol) during pregnancy to increased risk of autism.
The president treats professional disapproval not as a liability but as evidence of authenticity, fuelling the aura that he is a challenger of conventions.
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‘Paracetamol use in pregnancy perfectly safe’
On Tuesday, he went to the United Nations, where his frustrations over a stalled escalator and teleprompter failure were the prelude to the most combative address.
“I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell,” he told his audience, deriding Europe’s approach to immigration as a “failed experiment of open borders”.
Mr Trump addresses the UN General Assembly in New York. Pic: Reuters
Then came a U-turn on Ukraine, suggesting the country could win back all the land it has lost to Russia.
Most politicians would be punished for inconsistency, but Mr Trump recasts this as strategic genius – framing himself as dictating the terms.
It is hard to keep track when his expressed hopes for peace in Ukraine and Gaza are peppered with social media posts condemning the return of Jimmy Kimmel to late-night television.
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Trump’s major shift in Ukraine policy
Perhaps most striking of all is his reaction to the indictment of James Comey, the FBI director he fired during his first term.
In theory, this should raise questions about the president’s past conflicts with law enforcement, but he frames it as vindication, proof that his enemies fall while he survives.
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Ex-FBI chief: ‘Costs to standing up to Trump’
Mr Trump has spent much of his political career cultivating an image of a man above the normal consequences of politics, law or diplomacy, but he appears to feel more invincible than ever.
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From funerals to world summits, world peace to public health, he projects the same image: rules are for others.
It is the politics of the untouchable.
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