restrictions remain in place in moscow, tula and the m4 motorway. you are watching bbc news. good morning. the threat of a major uprising against the russian president vladimir putin appears to have receded, after a deal was struck which enabled the rebellious leader to retreat. yevgeny prigozhin, the head of the wagner mercenary group — pictured here leaving the russian city of rostov—on—don is going into exile in belarus after abandoning his advance on moscow. and with wagner forces firing their guns into the sky — and cheers from the watching public — his troops also departed the city — just hours after they controlled a military building — with further wagner troops moving towards moscow travelling north on the m4 motorway —

passing the city of voronezh and were spotted as far north as the lipetsk region, which is around 300 miles south of moscow. then — in the early evening — prigozhin announced that he had agreed to stop the advance. tensions had been building between mr prigozhin and russia's military leadership for some time, over their approach to the war in ukraine. sarah rainsford reports. mutineers cheered as heroes. cheering. this crowd are shouting "wagner", the name of the mercenary group that vladimir putin had accused of treason only hours earlier. the fighters were clearly among friends here. just one bizarre scene in a day of high drama. the wagner group had rolled into rostov on saturday morning, placing tanks on city streets and taking over a military command post for the ukraine war. there, wagner's boss was filmed haranguing senior military figures.

in extraordinary scenes, yevgeny prigozhin demanded the downfall of russia's defence minister and its chief of staff, accusing them of mishandling the war on ukraine. soon came reports of wagner troops heading north, though there were very few images. this sign points to voronezh, that's already halfway to moscow. in the same region, a driver sees a roadblock. he says wagner have smashed through. further north still, a man finds his way home, a man finds his way home blocked by a trench dug into the tarmac. this march on moscow turned all eyes on yevgeny prigozhin. he's a former convict who became a chef to vladimir putin, but he did a lot of the kremlin�*s dirty work to from disinformation by running troll farms to covert fighting in syria and ukraine. since the full scale invasion, prigozhin had been recruiting soldiers from prisons for some of the fiercest battles, but he'd also been feuding openly

with russia's defence ministry. and this weekend, that dispute exploded. vladimir putin declared the mutiny a betrayal, a stab in the back. but it was a problem that he himself had allowed to get out of hand. as a counter—terror operation was launched to defend the capital the potential for clashes was clear. and then as suddenly as it began, it was over. prigozhin said his men were turning round to avoid bloodshed and belarus announced it helped negotiate that. late last night, pictures emerged of the man himself leaving for belarus as part of the climbdown deal. yevgeny prigozhin�*s next steps are unclear like so much in this story. vladimir putin didn't win the showdown. he just survived it. for once, the russian strongman looked weak. sarah rainsford, bbc news.

it is fairto it is fair to say a lot has happened over the past 48 hours. let's look back at what's actually happened over the past couple of days. early on friday, yevgeny prigozhin questioned the war in ukraine and the role of the russian defence minister sergei shoigu, claiming he did it to gain military honours. prigozhin called for an armed rebellion and accused the kremlin of hitting his troops with a missile strike on friday. in moscow, security was stepped up as wagner took rostov—on—don. on saturday, prigozhin declared 25,000 of his troops had crossed the borderfrom ukraine in the early hours of the morning. the russian president vladimir putin denounced this action as a "criminal adventure" and warned of punishments in a tv address. over the course of the day, wagner forces made progress towards moscow, seizing military facilities in voronezh.

in the hours later, prigozhin said that he had agreed to "stop" the movement of his troops, turning them around from their route to moscow. belarus revealed its leader, alexander lu kashenko, had been holding talks with prigozhin and putin. russian state media reported that prigozhin is leaving for belarus, and criminal charges against him and his troops would be dropped. earlier, our russia editor steve rosenberg gave us his assessment of what's happened in russia in the past day. what an astonishing 24—hour is. at one point— what an astonishing 24—hour is. at one point we were talking about rebellion, — one point we were talking about rebellion, the spectre of civil war in russia — rebellion, the spectre of civil war in russia and then this deal, this resolution— in russia and then this deal, this resolution was announced and de—escalation. it's almost like a tornado — de—escalation. it's almost like a tornado has swept through, leaving debris _ tornado has swept through, leaving debris. what can we conclude from all of— debris. what can we conclude from all of this? — debris. what can we conclude from all of this? first of a robert vladimir— all of this? first of a robert

vladimir putin. he does not emerge from this_ vladimir putin. he does not emerge from this looking particularly strong, — from this looking particularly strong, you would have to say. if you look— strong, you would have to say. if you look at — strong, you would have to say. if you look at the ease with which the wagner— you look at the ease with which the wagner mercenary group swept in to wagner mercenary group swept into rostov_ wagner mercenary group swept into rostov on— wagner mercenary group swept in to rostov on don and took the military sites, _ rostov on don and took the military sites. and _ rostov on don and took the military sites, and moved towards moscow, that is_ sites, and moved towards moscow, that is quite astonishing. mr patten had come _ that is quite astonishing. mr patten had come on national television yesterday— had come on national television yesterday with strong words, talking about _ yesterday with strong words, talking about treachery and betrayal. and russia _ about treachery and betrayal. and russia being stabbed in the back. —— vladimir— russia being stabbed in the back. —— vladimir putin. and yet by the end of the _ vladimir putin. and yet by the end of the day— vladimir putin. and yet by the end of the day all charges were dropped against _ of the day all charges were dropped against yevgeny prigozhin and you are free _ against yevgeny prigozhin and you are free to— against yevgeny prigozhin and you are free to go to belarus! so that is regarding vladimir putin. also, many— is regarding vladimir putin. also, many people have been wondering whether— many people have been wondering whether yevgeny prigozhin with his private _ whether yevgeny prigozhin with his private army could be a threat to the russian authorities so perhaps there _ the russian authorities so perhaps there is— the russian authorities so perhaps there is a — the russian authorities so perhaps there is a question about the judgment of the kremlin? 0n the

other— judgment of the kremlin? 0n the other hand, let's look at yevgeny prigozhin. — other hand, let's look at yevgeny prigozhin, what does this tell us about— prigozhin, what does this tell us about the — prigozhin, what does this tell us about the chief of wagner? it tells us you _ about the chief of wagner? it tells us you can — about the chief of wagner? it tells us you can have a private army and you can _ us you can have a private army and you can mutiny and you can set the -oal you can mutiny and you can set the goal of— you can mutiny and you can set the goal of toppling the military leadership of russia and at the end of the _ leadership of russia and at the end of the day, — leadership of russia and at the end of the day, you are free, you are a free man — of the day, you are free, you are a free man all— of the day, you are free, you are a free man. all right, he has to go to belarus _ free man. all right, he has to go to belarus as— free man. all right, he has to go to belarus as a — free man. all right, he has to go to belarus as a result of the deal with the kremlin but think back to the i990s. _ the kremlin but think back to the 19905, 1991, a coup against mikhail gorbachev, what happened to the leaders? — gorbachev, what happened to the leaders? we were all put in prison. back— leaders? we were all put in prison. back in— leaders? we were all put in prison. back in 93. — leaders? we were all put in prison. back in 93. a — leaders? we were all put in prison. back in 93, a rebellion against boris — back in 93, a rebellion against boris yeltsin, the leaders were put in prison — boris yeltsin, the leaders were put in prison. after this armed mutiny in prison. after this armed mutiny in russia, — in prison. after this armed mutiny in russia, what has happened to yevgeny— in russia, what has happened to yevgeny prigozhin? off you go to belarus _ yevgeny prigozhin? off you go to belarus as a free man. that is quite interesting — belarus as a free man. that is quite interesting. also interesting is how he was _ interesting. also interesting is how he was cheered apparently by some of the crowds _ he was cheered apparently by some of the crowds in rostov on don last night _ the crowds in rostov on don last night as— the crowds in rostov on don last night as wagner fighters pulled out

of the _ night as wagner fighters pulled out of the city so that will have buoyed up of the city so that will have buoyed up yevgeny prigozhin, i think. in kyiv, the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, said the wagner mutiny was a clear sign of weakness in the kremlin. meanwhile — ukrainian forces have been pushing to recapture some of the territory invaded by russia including settlements in the eastern donetsk region and the southern region of zaporizhzhia but progress has been slow. fighting is also continuing around the eastern city of bakhmut — most of which is still under russian control — after prolonged fighting — and this is where the wagner group have suffered heavy losses. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent — andrew harding — who's in the donbas region of ukraine. it really is business as usual here, if you like. more incoming fire overnight from russian forces in zaporizhzhia, further south around here as well. and this morning, continuing. and we know reports from ukrainian forces further north, some progress made. here near bakhmut,

also ukrainian forces reporting that they're making progress. so if you like, the war goes on regardless of what chaos there may or may not be, and what aftershocks there may be in russia and amongst the military. but clearly, at the same time, ukrainian officials, particularly military planners, are engaged in this massive counteroffensive, which is building up now with many, many forces, extra forces, thousands more men and western weapons poised to enter the front lines and to pick targets to break through or try to break through those front lines. and they are going to be watching very closely for any signs of opportunity presented by the chaos within the russian military, within the wagner group, who, of course, pulled out from those front lines some time ago to go back and try and begin that extraordinary march towards moscow. will those wagner troops now return to the front? what's going to happen?

are there going to be any indications of low morale, of infighting that the ukrainians could exploit in the days and weeks to come? andrew, we've been hearing that the counter—offensive has had kind of probing attacks, the ukrainians exploring the strength and the spread of the russian defences. and for months we've also been hearing kyiv asking for western weapons. and we saw those abram tanks from the us, the leopard tanks from germany and the uk also giving heavy battle tanks. to what degree in these early stages of this counteroffensive are we seeing the deployment of this western military hardware and is it making much difference on the ground? the ukrainians say it is, but that they haven't yet committed all of those weapons to the fight. these are, as you say, early stages. these are probing attacks the ukrainians are making. and also we've had to see a lot of russian counterattacks, attempts to disrupt ukrainian preparations. so further north from here,

there was a big russian push in the last week, which the ukrainians say they've only just managed to contain. you had the issue, of course, with the kharkovka dam being sabotaged, the flooding below and the destruction of the reservoir above, also preoccupying the ukrainian forces. and so we are still at the stage where we are waiting to see if the ukrainians will break through and turn what has been a very slow and ukraine has admitted disappointingly slow and incremental advance into something that has more strategic significance. something that has more strategic significance-— something that has more strategic sianificance. ~ ., .., ., significance. meanwhile the call for the f-16 fighter— significance. meanwhile the call for the f-16 fighterjets _ significance. meanwhile the call for the f-16 fighterjets continue, - significance. meanwhile the call for the f-16 fighterjets continue, the l the f—16fighterjets continue, the challenge to control the airspace above ukraine, a constant challenge for the authorities in kyiv? exactly. we are talking about huge distances that the ukrainian forces

are seeking to cover and advance as they push down towards the black sea to try and cut off the crimean peninsula which they intend, they say to take back and to do that against a well entrenched bigger russian force, well dug in, they need control of that skies and at the moment they do not have that although russian aircraft is still quite hesitant about approaching close to ukrainian front lines. it would make a huge difference for the ukrainians if they had significant air power to challenge the russians. some more breaking news. special forces in chechnya have apparently

signed special order saying they will align themselves to the russian military, 7000 trips in chechnya had taken up positions in moscow to contain the advancing wagner fighters. the russian task news agency reporting that the kitchen leader is reporting from the region of rostov on don. we will get more on that now with with vitaly shevchenko from bbc monitoring. all this talk of yevgeny prigozhin going to belarus is based on one source. . ,

source. remarks by the kremlin spokesman _ source. remarks by the kremlin spokesman who _ source. remarks by the kremlin spokesman who said _ source. remarks by the kremlin spokesman who said this - source. remarks by the kremlin spokesman who said this was i source. remarks by the kremlinl spokesman who said this was the deal. we have not heard anything from yevgeny prigozhin since yesterday evening. when he said he was stopping his advance towards moscow. and since that time, his social media accounts, the usual channels that he uses to communicate have been silent so it is a really good question what is in the deal for yevgeny prigozhin? it is clear whatever vladimir putin got out of it, the wagner mercenary stood a u—turn and stop the advance towards moscow for yevgeny prigozhin, it seems to be a pretty bad deal because essentially, if what the kremlin says is true, he is being sent into exile in belarus. and as

for his mercenary group, the kremlin and the russian defence ministry want the mercenaries to sign official contracts with the military which can be seen as the end of the wagner group and there's a lot of speculation about this being possibly the reason why yevgeny prigozhin led the mutiny, trying to avert the disbandment of his group. if that was his objective, he has failed. if that was his ob'ective, he has failed. �* , , ., ., ., failed. briefly, you mention a contract but _ failed. briefly, you mention a contract but we _ failed. briefly, you mention a contract but we believe - failed. briefly, you mention a i contract but we believe chechen forces have signed contracts to align themselves more closely with the russian military so is this a bad attempt by vladimir putin to try and exert more control over these private military companies that he allowed to establish and flourish? it may well be because he has allowed the system to get out of

control where there were a number of private military arm is competing with each other and one of them apparently challenging the president himself. another question is what wagnerfighters himself. another question is what wagner fighters will do and i have seen reports of discontent, some apparently saying they have been betrayed by their leader so that is another subject to watch.- betrayed by their leader so that is another subject to watch. lord dannatt is a former head of the british army. hejoins me now from norfolk. thank you for doing so. give us a sense of context as to the destabilising nature of the events because of the parts of the world we sometimes see uprisings over pay issues for a garrison or barix and that gets suppressed quickly and gets resolved but this strikes me as something far more existential,

significant parts of the russian military machine which have been very effective in ukraine marching out of the capital moscow. this will surely send reverberations through the state of the authorities but also through the military itself and the people fighting on their behalf? i think you are right as far as that is concerned but we must remember yevgeny prigozhin it was fighting ostensibly not to try and top of vladimir putin but to have a crack at the defence minister sergei shoigu and the defence minister valery gerasimov. when the wagner group were doing the heavy lifting of fighting and dying, yevgeny prigozhin got progressively more angry with valery gerasimov and sergei shoigu over the ammunition his troops nodded so his venom has been most accurately pointed at those military leaders so yesterday

when he started to move towards moscow, undoubtedly it rattled vladimir putin. when you saw him on television he looked very worried when he was talking in terms of an armed mutiny but if you played that through, what will yevgeny prigozhin do? was he going to go all the way to moscow and hope no one would oppose him and watch all the way to the kremlin and top up your no one would oppose him? turning november is probably the only thing he could do, he still has a lot of pressure on the russian defence leaders, sergei shoigu seems to have disappeared and valery gerasimov must also think he is weakened. this is a bad time for russian forces, the ukrainian counteroffensive building and we could see the main breakthrough attempts by the minerva brigades, the ones well trained and equipped with western equipment.

that is what we are waiting for and i think we will start to see that quite soon. i think we will start to see that quite soon-— i think we will start to see that uuite soon. ~ ., , . ., quite soon. what is the impact of the wagner _ quite soon. what is the impact of the wagner fighters _ quite soon. what is the impact of the wagner fighters potentially i the wagner fighters potentially being absorbed into the russian army because yevgeny prigozhin, if he ends up in belarus, is to one side but you have tens of thousands of people allied to him now ingratiated amongst quite often disaffected conscripts so will not have negative impact on the fighting force, the rationale and the resolve of those fighting on behalf of russia? you attach a very _ fighting on behalf of russia? wm. attach a very important point. the bulk of the russian badgers spacing ukraine were themselves conscripted last year, probably against their betterjudgment and wishes. they are probably ranged and equipped and led so i think it is fair to assume the russian military morale and motivation is quite low but you come to the former wagner soldiers, you have to ask the question or the

start wagner soldiers? we understand yevgeny prigozhin is on his way to belarus but will he take any or many of his trips with him and se out at the fight or could there be a deal whereby yevgeny prigozhin and some units make another push from belarus towards kyiv? if i was a ukrainian commander—in—chief i would be concerned. there a lot going on. yesterday was an extraordinary day but i think those events are not finished and there's a lot more to unfold yet. finished and there's a lot more to unfold yet-— finished and there's a lot more to unfold et. ~ ., ., . ., ., unfold yet. what will watch and wait and follow them _ unfold yet. what will watch and wait and follow them closely. _ unfold yet. what will watch and wait and follow them closely. thank - unfold yet. what will watch and wait and follow them closely. thank you. as events developed inside russia the bbc�*s verify team worked to sift through videos on social media to track the convoy of wagner vehicles. they are now assessing the aftermath and where it leaves the wagner group. 0ur correspondent, joe inwood, has been working with the team and is in the newsroom with more. absolutely. it was a very busy day for the team here because there were

huge amounts of footage coming in and it is very difficult in the fog of these things to know what is true and we were busy because of this man, yevgeny prigozhin. throughout the day we were looking at satellite imagery, trying to figure out for the convoy had got to come out looking at local maps and landmarks but the only thing i'm footage that matters is this photo and the footage of them leaving because we know now the whole thing has been called off, he mocked them to the top of the hill and back down again and he is now on his way to belarus, thatis and he is now on his way to belarus, that is the official line but we do not know technically where he is and what will happen when he gets there. murdaw not waste an important plant, where his soldiers go with him or be integrated into the russian army? we have also been looking at state television in belarus to see the official line there and they are talking about the deal that president lukashenko helped

president lu kashenko helped negotiate president lukashenko helped negotiate and they are showing pictures of empty streets in moscow and rostov on don so they are showing there has been progress and they have been involved but are not making efficient mention when i watched a tv of yevgeny prigozhin coming to belarus so that obviously suggests maybe they do not want people to know that was what was actually negotiated so as i say, a huge amount of questions that have come from the last 36 hours and we have been doing our best to find out what we can. talk have been doing our best to find out what we can-— what we can. talk to us about the involvement _ what we can. talk to us about the involvement of _ what we can. talk to us about the involvement of wagner _ what we can. talk to us about the involvement of wagner being - what we can. talk to us about the involvement of wagner being on i what we can. talk to us about the i involvement of wagner being on the russian border because it has had a big presence in africa in recent years? big presence in africa in recent ears? , , . big presence in africa in recent ears? , ., ., ., years? this is an organisation with tentacles over _ years? this is an organisation with tentacles over the _ years? this is an organisation with tentacles over the world, - years? this is an organisation with tentacles over the world, they - years? this is an organisation with l tentacles over the world, they were alleged to have been involved in the manipulation of the 2016 us elections and heavily involved in propping up bashur al—assad in syria but the central african republic, burkina faso and mali, they are

propping up quite stable governments and in mali they have displaced the french forces there are to fight a long islamist insurgency. what happens to wagner? it will not continue as it did previously, will yevgeny prigozhin run it, will yevgeny prigozhin run it, will yevgeny prigozhin run it, will yevgeny prigozhin run it, move the troops continue to do whatever it is they do and often whatever they do is not to the advantage of local people, they have been accused of grave human rights abuses in the central african republic so there's a discussion about the future of african states currently unstable. a lot of funding for wagner comes from the extraction of minerals, diamonds, gold mines, in concession for doing what they do for the various regimes in which they work so we'll be trying to keep control of those and if they do, where does the money go? important questions to be asked which will have serious implications for some of the poorest people in the world.—

and there's been reaction to yesterday's attempted coup across the uk and on this morning's sunday with lisa kuenssberg programme marina litvinenko gave her opinion. some of us are worried because yevgeny prigozhin is not a hero, he is a criminaland yevgeny prigozhin is not a hero, he is a criminal and he committed a lot of bad things in ukraine. you cannot trust to this person and this was all a mess in russia. but was a very special message, vladimir putin is not a person who controls anything in russia and this image of a president will make all these prudent things, it means he only just forfrightening people, not

controlling things. you just for frightening people, not controlling things.— just for frightening people, not controlling things. you are watching bbc news and _ controlling things. you are watching bbc news and i _ controlling things. you are watching bbc news and i am _ controlling things. you are watching bbc news and i am gareth - controlling things. you are watching bbc news and i am gareth barlow. l bbc news and i am gareth barlow. bringing you up—to—date with recent events, the tass news agency in russia saying chechen special forces or pulling out of the russian region of rostov on don. reports that 3000 chechen special forces aligned to be chechen special forces aligned to be chechen leader who is a close ally of vladimir putin have been deployed to moscow on saturday morning in case of a further advance by wagner forces who have retreated down the m4 highway and have let their positions. you are watching bbc news. key developments in the uk now. many emergency 999 calls are not connecting in the uk this morning due to a technical fault. the issue is impacting a number of police forces — according to the metropolitan police.

the force are urging people to call 101 in an emergency until further notice. for more on this we can cross live now to the newsroom and speak to our correspondent aruna iyengar. tell us more, what exactly is happening?— tell us more, what exactly is haueninu? , , happening? the problems with the service had not _ happening? the problems with the service had notjust _ happening? the problems with the service had notjust about - happening? the problems with the service had notjust about the - service had notjust about the police forces but the fire brigade and the emergency ambulance services right across the country, england, scotland and wales. it started around 8am today and i spoke to british telecom which operates 999 service and they said they had put in place a back—up system so that means the emergency services can respond to 999 calls and that is within the last 30 minutes so the back—up services apparently in place to prevent things like this, a catastrophic meltdown of emergency service calls so they can respond and we have seen on twitter emergency services coming back and saying the service is back online

for a couple of hours earlier at the number was out of action and although services were asking people to ring 101 instead or if it was a health emergency, to ring 111 but the services are back online now and the services are back online now and the question is how this message outage happened because really that's affected all emergency services and that is quite a big event for that to happen. like you sa , if event for that to happen. like you say. if you — event for that to happen. like you say. if you dial— event for that to happen. like you say, if you dial 999 _ event for that to happen. like you say, if you dial 999 in _ event for that to happen. like you say, if you dial 999 in a _ event for that to happen. like you say, if you dial 999 in a typical - say, if you dial 999 in a typical situation that is diverted to british telecom who distribute that to the emergency services? that british telecom who distribute that to the emergency services?- to the emergency services? that is riaht to the emergency services? that is right because _ to the emergency services? that is right because the _ to the emergency services? that is right because the 999 _ to the emergency services? that is right because the 999 service - right because the 999 service operates across police, fire, ambulance services and other emergency services and there is a loading on one area of the system like the police, if there's too many colours to the police, they will be diverted to the fire services are ambulance services but if the entire

service is down, that is a big problem for getting people out to people in need. really bt will have to look at us and find out what it was. at the moment, they have not given any statement to say what the cause was but they do say a back—up service is working now and people can now call 999.— can now call 999. following those developments _ can now call 999. following those developments first, _ can now call 999. following those developments first, thank - can now call 999. following those developments first, thank you - can now call 999. following those developments first, thank you so | developments first, thank you so much. more details about the story on the website or on the bbc news app on the website or on the bbc news app on your smartphone or tablet. you can find out all those developments about the 999 service this morning. thank you for watching. please do stay with us.

this is the bbc news, the headlines this is this hour... cheering crowds watched you guinea progression leave. the

kremlin says he will not face any criminal charges.