A day after threatening to overthrow the government, members of the powerful mercenary group Wagner left the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Sunday. Numerous people were cheering and yelling “Wagner! Wagner!” outside of the military headquarters that Wagner had taken control of.

On Telegram, governor Vasily Golubev stated, “A Wagner column left Rostov and headed to their field camps.” The city’s most important military base had been taken over by the mercenaries on Saturday. 

The feud between Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian armed force came to a savage head on Saturday, with his powers catching a key armed force base camp in southern Russia and afterward traveling north to undermine the capital.

The Russian government announced that the chief of the rebel Wagner mercenary force will travel to Belarus and will not face charges for halting his troops’ advance on Moscow, easing the nation’s most severe security crisis in decades.

The Wagner group posted pictures to their Telegram group showing a huge crowd cheering as the tanks and armored vehicles carrying the Wagner forces left the town.

Russian mercenary leader’s exile ends revolt but leaves questions about Putin’s power

After the rebellious mercenary commander who had ordered his troops to march on Moscow abruptly reached a deal with the Kremlin to go into exile and sounded the retreat, the greatest challenge that Russian President Vladimir Putin had faced in his more than two decades in power faded away.

However, the Wagner Group soldiers under Yevgeny Prigozhin’s command were able to move into the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don unimpeded and advance hundreds of kilometers toward Moscow during the brief revolt. To defend Russia’s capital, the military rushed into action.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, made the deal public on Saturday. As part of the deal, Prigozhin will travel to Belarus, a neighbor that has backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He will not be charged with organising an armed rebellion.

The government additionally said it wouldn’t arraign Wagner warriors who participated, while the people who didn’t join were to be offered agreements by the Guard Service.

Ordering his troops to return to their field camps in Ukraine, where they had been fighting alongside regular Russian soldiers, Prigozhin gave the order.

There were still no reports of Prigozhin arriving in Belarus by Sunday morning. There were numerous other unanswered questions, such as whether any of Wagner’s troops would accompany Prigozhin into exile and what role, if any, he might play there.

Since the Kremlin announced that the arrangement had been mediated for Prigozhin to end his march and leave Russia, Prigozhin, who sent out a number of audio and video updates during his revolt, has remained silent.

(With AP inputs)

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