The head of the Wagner mercenary group is still being investigated by Russian authorities despite the Kremlin promising to drop all charges against him, according to Russia's three main news agencies and another newspaper.

Russia's domestic spy agency, the FSB, still has a case open against Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to unnamed sources speaking to the news outlets.

Under a deal mediated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukahsenko to defuse the crisis late on Saturday, the Kremlin said a criminal case against Prigozhin would be dropped and his fighters would face no legal action.

But the Kommersant website, quoting an unidentified source, said the decision to initiate a criminal case had not yet been cancelled, and the investigation into the rebellion was ongoing. It went on to quote the source saying not enough time had passed to close the case.

To be clear, this information is coming from Russian news outlets, and we haven't yet been able to independently verify it.

It remains unclear exactly what this means for the deal, and we haven't heard from Prigozhin or Russia's leader Vladimir Putin yet.

The BBC’s analysis editor Ros Atkins has looked at the consequences of the failed Wagner mutiny - for Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, the Wagner Group, Russia’s military leaders, and for the war in Ukraine.

Watch the video below:

Image source, Reuters

A lot has happened over the weekend in Russia. If you're coming to this story fresh, here are the key things to know:

On Friday, Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin accused Russian defence officials of bombing Wagner troops in Ukraine.

Then on Saturday morning, things came to a head, when Prigozhin announced that his troops - a private army of mercenaries fighting for Russia in Ukraine - would "march for justice" against the military leadership. They crossed the border from Ukraine into Russia, entering the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.

The Kremlin accused Prigozhin of "armed rebellion" and in a televised address, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to punish those who had "betrayed" Russia.

But later that same Saturday things took another turn, with Prigozhin calling off the rebellion. The Wagner chief's troops pulled out of Rostov-on-Don, where they had seized the military headquarters.

The Kremlin said it would drop criminal charges against Prigozhin - who had been accused of "treason". Prigozhin agreed to leave Russia for Belarus, though his whereabouts are currently unknown.

Image source, Reuters

We're just hearing from Nato's secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, who says the aborted mutiny by Wagner troops over the weekend is “yet another demonstration of the big strategic mistake” Vladimir Putin made by invading Ukraine.

Stoltenberg, who heads up the military alliance of 31 countries including the UK and US, describes the events over the weekend as “an internal Russian matter”.

"As Russia continues its assault, it is even more important to continue our support to Ukraine,” he tells reporters in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital.

Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor

Image source, Reuters

Vladimir Putin's mixed messages have been raising eyebrows here and changing perceptions of the Russian president.

Don't expect President Putin to concede that he got things wrong, though. Admitting mistakes and miscalculations is not his style.

What will be the Russian president's next move? A clue, perhaps, came in the latest edition of Russian State TV's flagship Sunday night news show.

Reporting on the Wagner uprising, the presenter played an extract from an old Putin interview.

"Are you able to forgive?"

"Yes. But not everything," Putin replies.

"What can't you forgive?"

"Treachery."

I wonder if Yevgeny Prigozhin was watching.

Sarah Rainsford
Eastern Europe correspondent

The leader of the Wagner mercenary group is still nowhere to be seen.

The Kremlin said this weekend that he was going to Belarus. Into exile, effectively. And that Wagner would be absorbed into the defence ministry.

Prigozhin – usually so vocal – has so far said nothing.

Let's look at the footage of Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, seen for the first time since the Wagner group's aborted mutiny over the weekend.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded Shoigu be removed when he launched his rebellion - but this video shows him very much still in post.

Take a look:

The video, released by state media, shows Shoigu in an aircraft and meeting with commanders.

It's not known exactly where the video was filmed or when - we're looking into this though.

Image source, EPA

The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the Wagner group's aborted mutiny over the weekend shows cracks in Russia’s military power.

"The political system is showing fragilities, and the military power is cracking," he tells reporters in Luxembourg ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

"The monster that Putin created with Wagner, the monster is biting him now - the monster is acting against his creator,” Borrell says of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, adding that it is “not a good thing” to see a nuclear power like Russia “go into a phase of political instability”.

Read more about the history between Putin and Prigozhin here.

Shoigu video a show of composure and controlpublished at 08:16 British Summer Time 26 June 2023

08:16 BST 26 June 2023

Sarah Rainsford
Eastern Europe correspondent

Image source, Reuters

The short video of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu shows him very much still in his job.

We don’t know when it was filmed. But we can read the message it’s meant to send: that, for now at least, Vladimir Putin is protecting his minister – not sacking him, as Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded when he launched his mutiny over the weekend.

Shoigu, who’s been a close ally and friend of Putin for many years, is filmed checking maps and consulting his generals – supposedly at a forward command post of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

He even notes their supposed successes on the battlefield. It’s an obvious show of composure and control by the Kremlin after an armed uprising that left Putin looking weak; his authority badly diminished.

He’d even been forced to drop criminal charges against Prigozhin - the man he had publicly labelled a traitor, just hours before.

The weekend’s aborted mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group has not only impacted the security situation in Russia, but also the economy.

In early morning trading, the rouble fell to a 15-month low against the US dollar as markets responded to the instability.

By 04:15 GMT, the rouble was 2.1% weaker against the dollar - its weakest point since late March last year, according to news agency Reuters.

Moscow's mayor has lifted “anti-terrorist” security measures it had imposed over the weekend when Wagner forces threatened to storm the city.

Sergei Sobyanin announced the decision on Telegram, thanking residents for their “calm and understanding”.

Image source, EPA

Separately, Russia’s national anti-terrorism committee said the situation in the country was “stable” after Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin stood down his troops on Sunday, having struck an apparent deal with President Putin.

Image source, Reuters

For months Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has been in the crosshairs of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, with the mercenary boss blaming him for thousands of Russian deaths in the war in Ukraine.

Despite Russia's military campaign struggling with unexpected Ukrainian resistance and low military morale, Shoigu is still playing a vital role in the war, although Prigozhin accuses him of lying to the president about the reality on the ground in Ukraine.

If anyone has the president's ear, it is his defence minister, a long-time confidant who has in the past gone with him on hunting and fishing trips to Siberia and was once viewed as a potential successor.

Shoigu was credited with the military seizure of Crimea in 2014. He was also in charge of the GRU military intelligence agency, accused of two nerve agent poisonings - the deadly 2018 attack in Salisbury in the UK and the near-fatal attack on opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Siberia in 2020.

• Who's in Putin's inner circle and running the war?

A show of force from Moscow?published at 07:23 British Summer Time 26 June 2023

07:23 BST 26 June 2023

Mayeni Jones
Correspondent in Kyiv

The announcement of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit may be a show of force by Russia, and an attempt to stress it’s still focused on its so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Following the announcement of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s exile over the weekend, there had been speculation as to whether he’d attempt an offensive into Ukrainian territory from Belarus.

In response to this, the head of the armed forces of Ukraine said there was no evidence of an increase in foreign troops or equipment at the northern border, and that the situation there remained stable.

Despite this, he added that Ukrainian forces had stepped up their defences in the north and that any attempt to launch an assault there would be “suicide” on Russia’s part.

Image source, AFP

Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has visited troops involved in the war in Ukraine, in his first public appearance since the Wagner mutiny, according to state TV.

Shoigu has come in for fierce criticism from Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who demanded he be removed and accused him of being responsible for problems on the battlefield.

The report by Russia's RIA news agency, which cited the country's defence ministry, made it clear Shoigu remained in charge as he visited Ukraine.

No further details have been given as to when or where the visit took place, but it’s the first such reference to him since the mutiny.

We're picking up our live coverage of events in Russia and Ukraine after a tumultuous weekend for President Vladimir Putin.

Russian state media have broadcast pictures of the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, who hadn't been seen in public since mutinous Wagner mercenaries demanded his removal.

On Saturday, it was announced that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin would leave for Belarus - but his whereabouts now are unknown.

We'll be here with all the latest lines and analysis, stick with us.

Samuel Horti
Live reporter

We're now going to pause our coverage of events in Russia.

So many unanswered questions remain. What will Putin do next? What happens to the Wagner group? We'll hopefully get some answers over the next few days.

For now, you can read our news story on today's events, scroll down this page to read everything that's happened, listen to the latest edition of the BBC's Ukrainecast on what this all means for Putin, or watch the video below, which tracks the rebellion... in 82 seconds.

Thanks very much for joining us.

Along with the bylines you can see on this page, contributions came from Jaroslav Lukiv, James Harness, Aoife Walsh, Matthew Davis, Owen Amos, Chas Geiger, Frances Mao, Aparna Alluri, Jack Burgess, Nicholas Yong, Adam Durbin, Jasmine Taylor-Coleman, Brandon Livesay, Alexandra Binley, Madeline Halpert, Tiffany Wertheimer, Ben Tobias, Michael Sheils McNamee, Tiffanie Turnbull, Megan Fisher, Gem O'Reilly, Laura Gozzi, Thomas Spender, Jude Sheerin, Rebecca Seales, Max Matza, Brandon Drenon and Kayla Epstein.

Olga Ivshina
BBC News Russian

Before the start of the Wagner Group's rebellion, Putin had three options for the war in Ukraine.

The first was keeping the status-quo and continuing a war of attrition, hoping that Ukraine and the West would be exhausted earlier than Moscow.

The second option was some sort of reconciliation. But that requires Putin having some aces up his sleeve for negotiations.

And the third was escalation. Bearing in mind the losses that both the Russian army and the Russian economy have suffered during the first 15 months of the invasion, this option was the least attractive for the Kremlin.

But now it seems that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s actions have changed it all for Putin.

Days before the rebellion, Prigozhin posted several videos claiming that Russia had suffered “colossal” human losses and paid the price “for absolutely unclear goals”.

Prigozhin may be gone but the questions that he raised remain.

Does this all mean that the options for reconciliation, or keeping the status-quo, are gone in Putin’s head? To preserve his system and his - currently punctured - image of a strongman he may choose to escalate.

Does he really have resources for that? That’s a question that doesn’t have a short and easy answer.

People living in Rostov-on-Don - which the Wagner Group took control of yesterday - have expressed relief at the outcome of the crisis.

Wagner fighters began to leave the city overnight after their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, agreed to stop his rebellion.

Today, some felt sympathy towards the mercenaries - others feared the outcome could have been far worse.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Compared to the rush of activity in Russia yesterday, today has felt relatively pedestrian, with few concrete developments.

But there have still been plenty of updates, analysis, and intruiging questions to ponder.

• In the past few hours, the US has said the Wagner Group's short-lived rebellion shows the "cracks" in Putin's power. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told US media that the mutiny was a "direct challenge to Putin's authority".

• Former Russian PM Mikhail Kasyanov - a Putin critic - called it "the beginning of the end" for the Russian president.
• Experts agree that Putin's carefully crafted image of authority has been weakened over the past 48 hours.
• Some experts believe that Putin will try to assert himself in response, perhaps by becoming more brutal and authoritarian at home.
• Across Russia, restrictions imposed yesterday during the rebellion are being lifted - and Wagner forces are leaving military sites they controlled yesterday.
• We still don't know where Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is - that's one of the many unanswered questions we still have.

Francis Scarr, BBC Monitoring

Image source, Rossiya 24

State-controlled rolling news channel Rossiya 24 has appeared keen to reassure viewers that life is swiftly returning to normal following yesterday Wagner rebellion.

The channel has led its Sunday bulletins by reporting that the counter-terrorism measures, introduced in several Russian regions in response to the previous day’s events, will soon be lifted.

The presenter told viewers that Wagner fighters had left the city of Rostov-on-Don, where they had previously claimed to be in control of key military facilities. She also quoted the city’s mayor as saying it would only take two days to repair the damage caused to local roads by Wagner’s tanks and armoured vehicles.

Other main Kremlin-controlled channels have stuck to their weekend schedules of films and entertainment programmes.

In his weekly Sunday evening programme, prominent TV anchor Dmitry Kiselyov condemned Yevgeny Prigozhin’s actions as a “grave crime” - then aired a 2018 clip of Vladimir Putin saying he can forgive most things, but not “betrayal”.

Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 nearly all independent media outlets in Russia have shut down, been forced to close, or have left the country to operate from exile.