Iran Press/ Europe: Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin ordered his mercenaries to halt their march on Moscow to avoid “shedding Russian blood” and agreed to live in exile in Belarus – ending one of the biggest challenges to President Vladimir Putin’s decades-long rule.
Prigozhin said that while his men were just 200km (120 miles) from the Russian capital, he decided to turn them back on Saturday to prevent killings.
Wagner chief Prigozhin says his fighters, advancing towards Moscow, were turning around and returning to their bases to avoid bloodshed.
In an audio message released by his press service, Prigozhin said: “They wanted to disband the Wagner military company. We embarked on a march of justice on June 23. In 24 hours we got to within 200 km of Moscow. In this time, we did not spill a single drop of our fighters’ blood.”
Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed in a statement on Friday evening (June 22) that Russian army forces attacked the Wganer Group's positions with a missile attack, resulting in many Wagner soldiers' deaths.
Prigozhin announced in a video that his forces had taken control of "Artemovsk" (Bakhmut) in eastern Ukraine, where the conflict has been going on for months.
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Wagner boss orders troops to turn back from Moscow to avoid bloodshed
