Explainer: How mutiny against military fizzled out in Russia

The greatest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power fizzled out after the rebellious mercenary commander who ordered his troops to march on Moscow abruptly reached a deal with the Kremlin to go into exile and sounded the retreat.

The challenge had come from the Wagner Group, a shadowy private military company with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Who
Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, who heads the private military company, will leave Russia in a deal easing weekend mutiny.

Prigozhin is a former convict and considered the most influential mercenary in modern history and had won lucrative Kremlin catering contracts that earned him the nickname "Putin's chef".

He had taken the Russian state with the capture of Rostov-on-Don threatening to move on Moscow.

The feud between Prigozhin and Russia's military brass came to a violent head, with his forces capturing a key army headquarters in southern Russia on Saturday and then heading north to threaten the capital Moscow.
Fear of civil war
Meanwhile, Putin has warned against civil war, with the government telling locals to stay off the streets and Kyiv revelling in the chaos engulfing its enemy.

Prigozhin, who has feuded bitterly with Moscow's military leadership even as his outfit led parts of Russia's Ukraine offensive, said he understood the importance of the moment and did not want to "spill Russian blood".

The deal
Within hours of Prigozhin's about-face, the Kremlin announced he would leave for Belarus and Russia would not prosecute him or Wagner's members. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said he had negotiated a truce with Prigozhin, drawing thanks from Moscow.