TWO planes linked to Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin landed in Belarus today as Russia continues to reel from the warlord's 24-hour mutiny.
The Russian rebel fled to the neighbouring nation after striking a deal with Putin to stand down his forces just 120 miles from Moscow after an extraordinary armed rebellion.
The Wagner Group boss has not been seen in public since as Russia continues to reel from the seemingly botched coup attempt.
But two planes linked to Prigozhin landed at an air base near Minsk early on Tuesday morning.
An Embraer Legacy 600 arrived from the Rostov-on-Don region in southern Russia at 7.40am local time.
And a BAE 125-800B flew in from Prigozhin’s home city of St Petersburg at 7.58am.
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There was no confirmation that the coup-plotting head of Wagner was on board either aircraft.
But he had been expected to arrive into exile in Belarus after turning his troops around under a deal with Putin on Saturday.
Chaos exploded on Russia's southern borders late on Friday when Wagner troops seized control of Rostov-on-Don in a bloodless takeover.
Wagner fighters loyal to the leader of their private military company, Prigozhin, came within 124 miles of Moscow before he called them off.
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Though Saturday, they stormed up the M4 highway, taking control of military facilities in the Rostov and Voronezh regions as they closed in on the capital.
Anticipating urban warfare, Russia responded by placing cement mixers on roads in Moscow and set up defensive lines across major bridges leading to the capital.
Mercenaries from the private military company were just 120 miles outside Moscow when they downed weapons and returned to "bases" following orders late on Saturday.
Prighozin blamed an alleged Russian airstrike on Wagner troops in Ukraine for his decision to mount a mutiny.
And in his first public comments since turning tail on Saturday, he taunted Russian forces.
The Wagner boss said his guns-for-hire soldiers covered more ground than Putin’s invaders had managed in Ukraine — and said his mutiny was a "masterclass" in how to launch an invasion and seize Ukraine in just one day.
In an 11-minute audio clip, he said the one-day insurrection was not aimed at "overthrowing the government".
The Wagner chief said: "We started our march because of an injustice. We went to demonstrate our protest and not to overthrow power in the country.
"The aim of the march was to prevent the destruction of Wagner and hold to account officials who through their unprofessional actions have committed a massive number of errors.
"Society demanded it.”
But in his speech on Monday, Putin claimed to be in control as he baselessly accused the West for being behind the mutiny.
He vowed to hunt down the Wagner chiefs behind a failed mercenary coup.
"The organisers of the rebellion, despite their loss of rationality, could not fail to understand this," the tyrant said.
"They were well aware, including the fact that they were engaging in criminal actions, causing division and weakening the country.
"Which is currently facing an enormous external threat and unprecedented pressure from abroad."
He added that any attempt at "blackmail" was "doomed to fail".
The bile-monger also accused Ukraine and its allies for being behind the Prighozin-led coup.
He said Ukraine and it's "Western patrons" wanted "Russian soldiers to kill each other, to kill military personnel and civilians, so that in the end Russia would lose, and our society would split, choke in bloody civil strife".
"They rubbed their hands together, dreaming of revenge for their failures on the frontlines and during the so-called counteroffensive," he said.
"But they miscalculated."
It comes amid claims Prigozhin tricked top Wagner commanders into believing Putin personally approved his march to Moscow.
Vladimir Osechkin, an exiled human rights activist, said: "Prigozhin told personnel, first of all, commanders and deputy commanders that – allegedly – this whole story was approved by Putin personally."
They were allegedly told Putin "was weak and needed help to replace the leadership of the FSB and the defence ministry whom he fears".
He would use the march on Moscow to replace his failed security and defence chiefs, they were reportedly told.
James Cleverly said Britain was braced for a Kremlin collapse – with hints that Russians are tiring of the bloody war in Ukraine.
The Foreign Secretary told MPs: “Prigozhin’s rebellion is an unprecedented challenge to President Putin’s authority and clear cracks are emerging in Russian support for the war.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it was too early to tell the effects of the uprising.
Mr Sunak said Britain was braced “for a range of scenarios” as a result of Russian upheaval, adding: “We’re monitoring the situation closely.”
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Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the brief mutiny was not necessarily “a massive derailment of the Kremlin”.
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