LOSING HIS GRIP

WARMONGER Vladimir Putin has suffered a brutal blow to his authority after mercenaries aborted a coup aimed at ousting Russia's top military leaders

- LIZZY BUCHAN

After 24 hours of mayhem, Wagner Group commander Yevgeny Prigozhin called off his fighters' advance just 120 miles from Moscow.

The mutinous mercenaries had seized control of military facilities in the cities of Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh as they marched on the Russian capital.

But on Saturday night, Prigozhin said he'd told his fighters to return to their field bases to "avoid bloodshed", ending the violent standoff that could have plunged Russia into civil war.

Despite Putin accusing his former ally of treason and a "stab in the back", the Wagner chief has been allowed to go into exile in Belarus under a secret deal brokered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

Charges against Prigozhin and his troops will be dropped, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Warlord Prigozhin, nicknamed "Putin's chef" as he owned restaurants that serve the Kremlin, was seen smiling in selfies with roadside pedestrians, who greeted rebels with cheers as they retreated from Rostov.

Russia is reportedly seeking to cover up the loss of 39 pilots and crew shot down by the Wagner Group in its aborted march to Moscow.

Putin is believed to have lost six helicopters and an IL-22 plane.

The fallout from the aborted coup has raised serious questions about his grip on power. The tyrant has not been seen in public since Saturday.

Russian state TV aired a pre-recorded interview yesterday in which he spoke of "stepping up efforts" against Kyiv.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin was "very afraid and probably hiding somewhere".