Heavily armed Russian mercenaries who advanced most of the way to Moscow began turning back, de-escalating a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and founder of the Wagner army, said his men reached within 125 miles (200 km) of the capital.

In response, Moscow deployed soldiers in preparation for their arrival and told residents to avoid going out.

Wagner is withdrawing some military equipment on truck beds in Rostov. pic.twitter.com/OqdqgnG06c

— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) June 24, 2023

The Wagner fighters captured the city of Rostov hundreds of miles to the south before racing in convoy through the country, transporting tanks and armoured trucks and smashing through barricades set up to stop them, video showed.

Wagner fighters loaded tanks on trailers and began withdrawing from the Rostov military headquarters they had seized, a Reuters witness said.

The collapse of Russian state has gone from being dismissed as unimaginable to sth everyone can, & has, imagined. That alone will have serious consequences and cannot be undone.

— Jade McGlynn (@DrJadeMcGlynn) June 24, 2023

Earlier

Russian military helicopters opened fire on a convoy of rebel mercenaries already more than halfway toward Moscow.

President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush an armed mutiny he compared to Russia’s Civil War a century ago.

Fighters from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private Wagner militia were in control of Rostov-on-Don, a city of more than a million people close to the border with Ukraine, and were rapidly advancing northwards through western Russia.

A Reuters journalist saw army helicopters open fire at an armed Wagner column that was advancing past the city of Voronezh with troop carriers and at least one tank on a flatbed truck. The city is more than halfway along the 1,100-km (680-mile) highway from Rostov to Moscow.

President Putin’s plane was spotted leaving Moscow

Prigozhin, whose private army fought the bloodiest battles in Ukraine even as he feuded for months with the top brass, said he had captured the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District in Rostov after leading his forces into Russia from Ukraine.

In Rostov, which serves as the main rear logistical hub for Russia’s entire invasion force, residents milled about, filming on mobile phones, as Wagner fighters in armoured vehicles and battle tanks took up positions.

President Vladimir Putin has signed a law imposing fines and up to 30 days of arrest for violating martial law.https://t.co/SFord1XC2f

— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) June 24, 2023

Russian support

One tank was wedged between stucco buildings with posters advertising the circus. Another had “Siberia” daubed in red paint across the front, a clear statement of intent to sweep across the breadth of Russia.

In Moscow, there was an increased security presence on the streets. Red Square was blocked off by metal barriers.

“Excessive ambitions and vested interests have led to treason,” Putin said in a televised address, comparing the insurrection at a time of war abroad to Russia’s revolution and civil war unleashed during World War One.

“All those who deliberately stepped on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed insurrection, who took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, will answer both to the law and to our people.”

A defiant Prigozhin swiftly replied that he and his men had no intention of turning themselves in.

https://twitter.com/ChristopherJM/status/1672578245772947456?s=20