he signed the order on friday, with it taking immediate effect. it comes two days after wagner leaders were presumed killed in a plane crash. and in a separate development on saturday, a far right sub unit of wagner known as rusich said it was stopping military operations in ukraine. earlier, i spoke to retired rear admiral mark montgomery about the wagner mercernary group s future without prigohzhin. great to have you with us. thank you so much for taking the time. so now, in the wake of the presumed death of yevgeny prigozhin, we have a situation in which president putin, as we know, is ordering russian troops to swear allegiance to russia. i mean, they have proved reluctant before. they enjoyed better conditions when it comes to pay, at least, under wagner. what do you foresee happening here? well, first, thank you for having me, helena. and that s a great question. i assume at this point that you have to look at wagner as two different entities.
i m helena humphrey. glad you could join me. we start with what has been an extraordinary 2a hours in russia. the head of the wagner mercernary group, yevgeny prigozhin, has left for belarus. prigozhin told his forces to return to their bases earlier to avoid bloodshed after negotiations with belarusian leader alexander lu kashenko to end their rebellion against the russian defence ministry. wagner fighters have been leaving the southern city of rostov on don according to reports. security had been tightened in moscow, with the mayor telling residents to avoid travelling. all mass outdoor events have been cancelled until 1 july. but russia s tass news agency is now reporting that all restrictions previously imposed on russia s motorways have now been lifted. here you see the wagner leader departing russia for belarus earlier,