Russia to drop case against Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin after peace deal brokered by Belarus

"Avoiding bloodshed, internal confrontation, and clashes with unpredictable results was the highest goal," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, AFP reported.

Under the deal mediated by Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko, Wagner fighters will not be prosecuted and allowed to leave, Peskov added.

"We have always respected their heroic deeds at the front."

Earlier in the day, the Belarusian presidential office said that PMC Wagner head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had accepted Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's proposal to stop the movement of Wagner troops in Russia and take further steps to de-escalate the situation, Sputnik reported.

Prigozhin later confirmed the information, saying that Wagner troops were returning back to their field camps.

On Saturday, tensions escalated between Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, and Russia's military leadership.

Wagner mercenaries seized a crucial army headquarters in southern Russia and moved towards the capital, posing a potential threat.

Kremlin spokesperson Peskov stated that the rebellion led by Wagner would not affect Russia's ongoing campaign against Kyiv and emphasized that such a notion was not being considered.