- The Wagner mercenary group led fighters out of Ukraine into southern Russia
- Mercenaries had been approaching Moscow, but were ordered to turn back by Wagner chief Dmitry Prigozhinto to avoid 'shedding Russian blood'
- The rebels had taken control of Rostov, but began pulling out of the city on Saturday evening
- The Kremlin said Prigozhinto will now move to move to Belarus as part of a deal to end the mutiny
- Russian president Vladimir Putin earlier described the group's actions as a "stab in the back", vowing to punish those involved
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: "Russia's weakness is obvious"
- The revolt marks the most serious challenge to Putin's leadership in over 20 years
- The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has updated its advice for Irish citizens
9.30pm
Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin will move to Belarus under a deal brokered by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko to end an armed mutiny that Prigozhin had led against Russia's military leadership, the Kremlin has said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Lukashenko had offered to mediate, with Russian president Vladimir Putin's agreement, because he had known Prigozhin personally for around 20 years.
Peskov said the criminal case that had been opened against Prigozhin for armed mutiny would be dropped, and that the Wagner fighters who had taken part in his "march for justice" would not face any action, in recognition of their previous service to Russia.
Fighters who had not taken part would sign contracts with the Russia's defence ministry, which has been seeking to bring all autonomous volunteer forces under its control by July 1st.
Although Putin had earlier vowed to punish those who participated in the mutiny, Peskov said the agreement had had the "higher goal" of avoiding confrontation and bloodshed.
Peskov declined to say whether any concessions had been made to Prigozhin, other than guarantees of safety for him - something he said Putin had given his word to vouch for - and for Prigozhin's men, to persuade him to withdraw all his forces.
8.45pm
Fighters of the Wagner mercenary force started pulling out of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Saturday night.
Wagner forces were seen pulling away from the district military headquarters, where they had taken control.
It comes after Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces would return to base in order to avoid bloodshed, after Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko said he had brokered a deal.
6.50pm
Russian mercenary fighters who surged most of the way to Moscow have agreed to turn back to avoid bloodshed, their leader has said, in a de-escalation of what had become a major challenge to Russian president Vladimir Putin's grip on power.
The fighters of the Wagner private army, run by former Putin-ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, were already most of the way to the Russian capital, having captured the city of Rostov.
In an audio message, Prigozhin said the fighters would return to base because of the risk of blood being spilled.
A deal to halt further movement of Wagner fighters across Russia in return for guarantees of safety for the rebels was brokered by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, his office said.
6pm
The Government is in contact with the Irish embassy in Moscow as the situation there unfolds.
A spokesperson from the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday afternoon that the Government "remains in close touch with our embassy in Moscow".
While the department has advised against all travel to Russia for some time now, it has updated its travel advice page for the Russian Federation.
Meanwhile, the convoy of mutinous Wagner fighters approaching the outskirts of Moscow by road contains about 5,000 men led by senior Wagner commander Dmitry Utkin, a source close to the leadership in the Russian-held part of Ukraine's Donetsk province said on Saturday.
The source said Wagner chief Dmitry Prigozhin had fewer than 25,000 men at his disposal in total, and that around 5,000 of them were in Rostov-on-Don, the southern city key to Russia's war in Ukraine that Prigozhin said he had taken control of.
The source said Wagner's plan for Moscow was to take up positions in a densely built-up area.
4pm
Wagner mercenaries have been promised an amnesty if they lay down their weapons but they need to act fast, the TASS news agency cited a lawmaker as saying.
"Wagner fighters can still lay down their arms and avoid punishment given their achievements during the special military operation (in Ukraine), but they should do it fast," TASS cited the lawmaker, Pavel Krasheninnikov, as saying.
In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry also warned Western countries against using the Wagner mercenary group's mutiny "to achieve their Russophobic goals".
3.15pm
Mutinous Russian mercenary fighters barrelled towards Moscow on Saturday after seizing a southern city overnight, with Russia's military firing on them from the air but seemingly incapable of slowing their lightning advance.
Facing the first serious challenge to his grip on power of his 23-year rule, Russian president Vladimir Putin vowed to crush an armed mutiny he compared to Russia's Civil War a century ago.
The fighters of the Wagner private army run by former Putin-ally Yevgeny Prigozhin were already most of the way to the capital, having captured the city of Rostov and set off on an 1,100km race to Moscow.
Reuters saw troop carriers and a flatbed truck carrying a tank careening past the city of Voronezh more than halfway to Moscow, where a helicopter fired on them. But there were no reports of the rebels meeting any substantial resistance on the highway.
Russian media showed pictures of small groups of police manning machine gun positions on Moscow's southern outskirts. Authorities in the Lipetsk region south of the capital told residents to stay home.
More than 100 firefighters were in action at a fuel depot ablaze in Voronezh. Video footage obtained by Reuters showed it blowing up in a fireball shortly after a helicopter flew by. Prigozhin accused Russia's military of hitting civilian targets from the air as it tried to slow the column's advance.
Prigozhin says his men are on a "march for justice" to remove corrupt and incompetent commanders he blames for botching the war in Ukraine.
'Path of betrayal'
In a televised address from the Kremlin, Putin said Russia's very existence was under threat.
"We are fighting for the lives and security of our people, for our sovereignty and independence, for the right to remain Russia, a state with a thousand-year history," he said.
"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.
"The president makes a deep mistake when he talks about treason. We are patriots of our motherland, we fought and are fighting for it," Prigozhin said in an audio message. "We don't want the country to continue to live in corruption, deceit and bureaucracy."
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 without firing a shot.
In Rostov, which serves as the main rear logistical hub for Russia's entire invasion force, residents milled about calmly, filming on mobile phones as Wagner fighters in armoured vehicles and battle tanks took up positions.
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.
In a series of hectic messages overnight, Prigozhin demanded that Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, should come to see him in Rostov.
Western capitals said they were closely following the situation in nuclear-armed Russia. The White House said US president Joe Biden was briefed.
"This represents the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times," Britain's defence ministry said.
"Over the coming hours, the loyalty of Russia's security forces, and especially the Russian National Guard, will be key to how this crisis plays out."
Putin's grip on power may depend on whether he can muster enough loyal troops to combat the mercenaries at a time when most of Russia's military is deployed at the front in southern and eastern Ukraine.
The insurrection also risks leaving Russia's invasion force in Ukraine in disarray, just as Kyiv is launching its strongest counteroffensive since the war began in February last year.
"Russia's weakness is obvious. Full-scale weakness," Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote in a social media message. "And the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain and problems it will have for itself later."
Revolt
Prigozhin, a former convict and long-time ally of Putin, leads a private army that includes thousands of former prisoners recruited from Russian jails.
His men took on the fiercest fighting of the 16-month Ukraine war, including the protracted battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut.
He railed for months against the regular army's top brass, accusing generals of incompetence and of withholding ammunition from his fighters. This month, he defied orders to sign a contract placing his troops under Defence Ministry command.
He launched the apparent mutiny on Friday after alleging that the military had killed many of his fighters in an air strike. The Defence Ministry denied it.
"There are 25,000 of us, and we are going to figure out why chaos is happening in the country," he said, promising to destroy any checkpoints or air forces that got in Wagner's way. He later said his men had been involved in clashes with regular soldiers and had shot down a helicopter.
Army Lieutenant-General Vladimir Alekseyev issued a video appeal asking Prigozhin to reconsider.
"Only the president has the right to appoint the top leadership of the armed forces, and you are trying to encroach on his authority," he said. -Reuters
