this after president putin promised decisive action against what he calls treason. hello, everyone, and welcome to the a special hour of fox news live. i m arthel neville. hi, eric. eric: hello, everyone, i m eric shawn. fast-breaking developments that have a lot of people wondering what is really going on? some say it was a challenge to vladimir putin s decades-long grip on power. the head of the wagner group, a longtime kremlin ally, of course, but he s been increasingly recently critical of russia s military in recent weeks. he has said his forces seized key russian facilities near the ukrainian border and advanced farther north to other strategic cities, inching closer to moscow. but now those mercenaries holding fast, told to return to their field bases back in ukraine. general jack keane on fox news earlier before the order to the halt that march. and this is a surprise. there s nothing planned about this in terms of russian intelligence i m aware of and its ability
chief had agreed to the halt the movement of his forces and deescalate tensions in exchange for guaranteed security. and the wagner boss with gave the orders for his troops to return to field camps in ukraine to avoid, yes, the risk of blood being spilled. and we had seen in the last half hour or so signs that just being the forces headed to moscow, also those in rostov, probably a complete withdrawal from russia of the wagner forces in this latest entry. there are also reports, eric, that putin had agreed to some changes in the military top brass. you know, as you noted, that was a big demand of prigozhin, but we have no confirmation of that and no confirmation that these security guarantees a means that prigozhin is off the hook. remember, he was the top of this, he basically invaded russia. there was blood shed, there were russian helicopters and planes down, so there was damage.
because there is no immediate threat to vladimir putin s rule in russia. that is not the case. but there is now a pr problem that vladimir putin has, and the longer this situation persists, the greater that problem gets. eric: certainly, he s been bakken on his heels a bit. back on his heels a bit. ryan chilcote, based in london for us, good to see you. thank you for that. arthel? arthel: well, eric and ryan [laughter] meantime, defense secretary austin today spoke with defense ministers from canada, france, germany, poland and the u.k. as washington is keeping a close eye on the situation in russia. we re live at the white house with the very latest coming up next. n. together we provide nutrients to support immune, muscle, bone, and heart health. everyone: woo hoo! ensure with 25 vitamins and minerals.
eric: david, thank you for your insight. we ll see what happens the next few days. thank you. thank you. erik e eric arthel? arthel: well, eric, a stunning turn of events in russia. vladimir putin s longtime ally who launched a rebellion against him today has now struck a deal to move to belarus. so what does this mean for the war in ukraine? if a brand new hour of fox news live is coming up. stay right there, please. how to grow delicious herbs: step one: use miracle-gro potting mix. that s it. miracle-gro. all you need to know to grow. veteran homeowners. prices are going up fast. the grocery store and the gas station alone
eric: well, the apparent rebellion by the wagner group mercenaries who have been fighting for russia in ukraine on hold for now. the group s leader, yevgeny prigozhin, ordered troops to halt their lightning-fast march to moscow saying he did not want to spill russian blood. this after they seized some key russian bases near ukraine and vlad is myrrh putin voiced decisive action against what he called mutinous treason. prigozhin and putin have a long history today, and prigozhin recently has been demanding putin fire the defense minister and army chief of staff. could that be what is behind all this? ryan chilcote has reported extensively from the region and is live in london now with more. any sense, ryan, that perhaps there has been some agreement that that is what caused prigozhin to turn his