Mutinous Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday he had ordered his fighters, who had been advancing on Moscow, to turn around and return to their bases in order to avoid bloodshed.

Prigozhin said his fighters had advanced 200 kilometers (124 miles) towards Moscow in the last 24 hours.

The office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Saturday that he had brokered a deal with Prigozhin who had agreed to de-escalate the situation.

The announcement, carried on the official Telegram channel of the Belarusian presidency, said Prigozhin had agreed to halt the further movement of Wagner fighters across Russia.