With Wagner's leader sent into exile, where might its thousands of fighters turn next?
BBC security correspondentBut what does it mean for the war in Ukraine and what happens now to Wagner, the mercenaries who rebelled?Firstly, in the space of just a few hours on 24 June, Wagner took control of an entire Russian city, Rostov-on-Don. They then sent a heavily-armed convoy northwards, stopping just 200km short of Moscow,It was the most serious challenge yet to President Putin's rule, even if, as Wagner's leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claims, it was not intended to be.
In short, it came close to triggering what could have been a catastrophic civil war in a country with the world's largest arsenal of nuclear warheads.Secondly, Wagner has been by far Russia's most effective military force on the ground in Ukraine. Its soldiers, comprising both career veterans and convicts, are in most cases better paid and better motivated than the regular army.
After months of bitter close-quarter combat resembling the street battles of Stalingrad in WW2, Wagner gave Russia something resembling a victory whenPresident Putin is faced with a dilemma. Wagner launched a mutiny, so it's clearly a potential future threat. Yet it's also been enormously useful to the Kremlin and not just in Ukraine .
Deployed to Syria, Libya and several African countries, Wagner projects Russian strategic power and influence around the globe, and all the while under the guise of pretending it has nothing to do with the Kremlin. Only very recently hasFollowing the aborted mutiny, the Kremlin has said Wagner fighters have until 1 July to decide whether to sign contracts to join the regular army . If not, they can either return home, or go to neighbouring Belarus where Mr Prigozhin is supposed to be in exile.
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