In an audio message, Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin says he is turning his troops back to their bases, Reuters reports.

He said he gave the order to turn back from their advance on Moscow “because of the risk of blood being spilled”.

Video has shown Wagner group troops leaving Rostov, the city which they had taken.

Shouts of "boys, let's load up, let's go home,” were heard as the group took their leave.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had a second telephone conversation with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Saturday evening to inform him of the results of his talks with Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported.

Earlier, Mr Lukashenko's office said he had spoken to Prigozhin with Mr Putin's approval, and that the mutinous head of the Wagner militia had agreed to stop the movements of his fighters, some of whom were advancing on Moscow in a convoy, and de-escalate.

Ukraine is said to be making gains on the eastern front while their enemies have been distracted.

Deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar has been quoted as saying that gains were made near the eastern city of Bakhmut.

The Ukraine forces were said to have targeted a group of villages on Saturday.

"In all these areas, we have made advances," Ms Maliar wrote.

The Defence of Ukraine Twitter account was also updated with a similar message.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said his country has “unity” that is not on display in Russia.

The Ukraine president described the invaders as being in “complete chaos”.

His tweet read: “Ukraine will definitely be able to protect Europe from any Russian forces, and it doesn't matter who commands them. We will protect. The security of Europe's eastern flank depends only on our defense.”

Roads on the Russian M4 motorway are now being repaired having earlier on Saturday been deliberately damaged to stop the advancing Wagner forces.

‘Kevin Rothrock’ tweeted: “Road crews are already reportedly patching up the damage they deliberately inflicted on the highway leading north to Moscow. An hour ago, this equipment was tearing up the asphalt. Life comes at you fast in Russia.”

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has turned his troops back from Moscow to “avoid bloodshed” in the Russian city.

In an audio message, the mercenary group leader said his soldiers would return to their bases, in a dramatic U-turn just hours before they were expected to reach the city.

He said he gave the order to turn back from their advance on Moscow “because of the risk of blood being spilled”.

Mutinous Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday he had ordered his fighters advancing on Moscow in convoy to turn around and return to their bases to avoid bloodshed.

Mr Prigozhin had earlier said that he wanted to oust the army's top brass and "restore justice". Putin said the mutiny had to be decisively put down.

The office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he had spoken to Prigozhin with Putin's approval, and that the head of the Wagner militia had agreed to de-escalate the situation.

In an audio message released by his press service, Mr Prigozhin said: "They wanted to disband the Wagner military company. We embarked on a march of justice on June 23. In 24 hours we got to within 200 km of Moscow. In this time we did not spill a single drop of our fighters' blood.

"Now the moment has come when blood could be spilled. Understanding responsibility [for the chance] that Russian blood will be spilled on one side, we are turning our columns around and going back to field camps as planned."

The head of the Wagner force said he has ordered his mercenaries to halt their march on Moscow and retreat to their field camps in Ukraine to avoid shedding Russian blood.

The announcement from Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared to defuse a growing crisis as Moscow braced for the arrival of the private army led by the rebellious commander.

President Vladimir Putin had vowed he would face harsh consequences.

Mr Prigozhin said that while his men are just 120 miles from Moscow, he decided to turn them back to avoid “shedding Russian blood”.

He did not say whether the Kremlin has responded to his demand to oust defence minister Sergei Shoigu.

The announcement follows a statement from the office of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko saying that he had negotiated a deal with Mr Prigozhin after previously discussing the issue with Mr Putin.

Mr Prigozhin has accepted Mr Lukashenko's offer to halt the Wagner group's advance and further steps to de-escalate the tensions, Mr Lukashenko's office said, adding that the proposed settlement contains security guarantees for Wagner troops.