Wagner chief agrees to ‘de-escalate’ and END his mercenary group’s march on Moscow following emergency negotiations, claims Belarus President and key Putin ally Lukashenko
Belarus President and key Putin ally Alexander Lukashenko is claiming her Yevgeny Prigozhin has accepted his proposal to stop the Wagner Group’s advance toward Moscow.
The Belarus dictator is claiming Prigozhin would take further steps to de-escalate tensions but the Wagner boss has not so far commented.
Lukashenko had been talking all day to Prigozhin, Belarus claimed.
The surprise reported development comes after a day of complete chaos in Moscow as the city prepared for war by battening down the hatches as soldiers built outposts and military vehicles flooded the streets.
Prigozhin has still not yet commented on the update as a total of 5,000 Wagner forces are still reportedly advancing toward Moscow, currently approaching Lipetsk this evening.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is said to have a total of 25,000 men at his disposal and a further 5,000 of them were in Rostov-on-Don, the southern city key to Russia’s war in Ukraine that Prigozhin said he had taken control of.
The convoy inching towards Moscow is said to be led by senior Wagner commander and neo-Nazi Dmitry Utkin. A source said Wagner’s plan for Moscow was to take up positions in a densely built-up area.
A number of restrictions have now been introduced around the Russian capital following a decree from the governor as people were told to refrain from travelling round Moscow.
Prigozhin initiated a military coup against Putin overnight, which has seen the group take key cities and threaten the President, who called them ‘traitors’.
Putin earlier addressed the Russian people, warning that Prigozhin had ‘stabbed him in the back’, as Moscow enters into a lockdown, with troops digging in in preparation to defend the city.
A spokesperson for the Russian president said Putin was still at work in the Kremlin and had not fled Moscow. However, two presidential jets were seen flying from Moscow in the direction of St Petersburg. It was reported to have switched off its transponder to prevent tracking the route.
