Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Wagner, stops the Moscow advance in Russia

Less than 24 hours after launching a coup, Russian Wagner mercenary troops are reportedly beginning to leave Rostov-on-Don.

The leader of the group earlier claimed to have ordered his men to return to Ukraine in order to stop the bloodshed.

According to Russian official media, Yevgeny Prigozhin will now relocate to adjacent Belarus and all charges against him and his army will be withdrawn.

It marks the conclusion of a crazy and remarkable day in Russia.

Alongside the Russian army’s formal counterpart in Ukraine, The Wagner Group has been operating as a private army of mercenaries.

As Prigozhin vocally criticised Russia’s military leadership in recent months, tension between them had been rising over how the war had been fought.

The situation reached a boiling point on Saturday morning when Wagner mercenaries infiltrated Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia after crossing the border from their field camps in Ukraine.

They apparently grabbed control of the local military command and seized military installations in Voronezh, another city farther north, heading towards Moscow, in developments that happened in an instant.

The Kremlin tightened security in numerous areas, including Moscow, where the mayor of the capital city had advised citizens to avoid travelling, as the fighters began to march on the capital.

Additionally, there were alerts that tens of thousands of highly trained Chechen soldiers were their route to Moscow to repel the Wagner army.

Vladimir Putin, the president, responded by pledging to punish those who “betrayed” Russia.

According to Russian TV station Rossiya 24, the deal to abruptly defuse the situation was reached on Saturday night after conversations between Prigozhin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

A few hours later, a video supposedly showing Wagner forces departing Rostov and their leader being driven away while his fans cheered and shook his hand appeared online.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, claimed the situation was “complete chaos” in response to the day’s events.

“The Kremlin official is obviously quite frightened, and he’s probably hiding somewhere without revealing himself. I’m certain he’s not still in Moscow,” he declared in a statement.

He is aware of his fears because he initiated the danger. He is the cause of all bad things, losses, and enmity.

After flight tracking revealed that two presidential jets had departed Moscow on Saturday, there were suggestions that Mr. Putin had left the city.

Dmitry Peskov, the president’s press secretary, claimed the president was still in the Kremlin.

The criminal case against Prigozhin and his men will be ended, Mr. Peskov stated, and the arrest warrant for him would be withdrawn.

The press secretary said Wagner mercenaries still have time to agree to a deal with the Russian Ministry of Defence.