The dissident mercenary leader who ordered his soldiers to march on Moscow, ending the biggest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power.

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According to the agreement made public on Saturday by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Prigozhin would travel to Belarus, a country next door that has backed Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Additionally, the government declared that it would not prosecute Wagner fighters who participated, while the Defence Ministry would offer jobs to those who opted out.

Prigozhin gave the order to withdraw his forces from the front lines in Ukraine and back to their base camps.

Putin had earlier pledged to punish those responsible for the violent insurrection that was led by a former protege of his. He referred to the uprising as a "betrayal" and "treason" in a speech he gave to the country on television.

According to Peskov, Putin's "highest goal" in letting Prigozhin and his forces walk free was "to avoid bloodshed and internal confrontation with unpredictable results."

According to former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, "Putin has been diminished for all time by this affair."

According to official television in Chechnya, over 3,000 Chechen soldiers were evacuated from the battle in Ukraine and sent there early on Saturday.

On the southern outskirts of Moscow, machine gun-wielding Russian soldiers erected checkpoints. To halt the march, workers dug up portions of the roadways.

White Line

According to U.S. intelligence, Prigozhin has been assembling his soldiers close to the Russian border for some time.

The 62-year-old ex-convict Prigozhin has long-standing ties to Putin and has won lucrative food jobs at the Kremlin, earning him the moniker "Putin's chef."