Wagner chief says his rebel mercenary troops 'turning back' to avoid spilling blood

"We are turning our columns around and going back to field camps," Yevgeny Prigozhin announced after vowing to march on Moscow to topple the military leadership. He said he understood the importance of the moment and did not want to "spill Russian blood."

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Saturday he had negotiated with Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin an end to the movement of his mercenary troops inside Russia in order to deescalate the situation.

"Yevgeny Prigozhin has accepted the proposal of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on stopping the movement of armed individuals from the Wagner group on Russian territory and further steps on deescalating tensions," Lukashenko's press service said in a statement.

This is a developing story, more to follow.

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