MOSCOW — The leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, remains under Russian investigation despite the Kremlin saying criminal charges against him had been dropped, state media say.

Prigozhin said on Monday the aim was to “avoid the destruction of Wagner” in his first message since the rebellion.

His troops were called off under a deal that would see him move to Belarus and charges dropped. Many felt the deal not to prosecute him showed weakness from Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin tried to project an image of business as usual on Monday.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was shown in a video, allegedly at a forward command post for the war on Ukraine. It is not clear exactly when that was filmed.

Wagner had been demanding that Shoigu be sacked for his alleged mistakes on the battlefield in Ukraine.

In his first appearance since the weekend turmoil, President Vladimir Putin gave a video address on Monday to engineers attending an industry forum, in which he lavishly praised their contributions to the Russian economy.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin urged his team to unite behind President Putin.

Prigozhin said he did not target President Putin and had no desire to overthrow the regime when he declared his troops would march on Moscow last Friday.

In his 11-minute audio message on Telegram released on Monday, he said the group was seeking “to hold to account the officials who through their unprofessional actions have committed a massive number of errors” in the war with Ukraine.

He said the group was marching to stop Wagner being disbanded and incorporated into Russia’s Defense Ministry, and that he ordered his troops to turn back “to avoid spilling the blood of Russian soldiers”.

The mercenary boss did not reveal his location during the message, but did say Belarusian leader Alexsander Lukashenko had offered Wagner a way to maintain its independence.

It was the first time Prigozhin has spoken since agreeing to abort his mutiny attempt late on Saturday.

On Saturday morning, Wagner captured Rostov-on-Don, a city of more than a million people and the seat of Russia’s main command center for military operations in Ukraine.

Then a Wagner column headed north towards Moscow via the city of Voronezh, triggering a state of emergency in the capital and around it.

Before the agreement was made, the Russian president addressed the nation condemning Wagner.

He did not mention Prigozhin — formerly a close ally — by name, but promised to punish those who had led the mutiny for “treason” and what he called “a stab in the back” of Russia.

Hours later, the mercenaries turned round and left Rostov-on-Don after the Kremlin announced that Prigozhin would move to Belarus and that the Wagner leader and his followers in the rebellion would not be prosecuted.

The apparent deal, involving mediation by Lukashenko, left many questions unanswered.

The Kremlin has vowed to incorporate Wagner into the regular Russian armed forces.

But Wagner was still openly recruiting into its own ranks on Monday for service in Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.

A notice on Wagner’s Telegram channel offers new recruits a minimum of 240,000 rubles a month (£2,236; $2,843) — a fortune for most Russians, especially those in poor regions. It lists call-up centers across Russia, the main one being at Molkino in the far south.

In the eastern Siberian city of Novosibirsk the mercenary group was also recruiting, Russia’s Tass news agency reported. The Wagner office there had been shut down on Saturday — but on Monday its banners were on display there again.

Wagner has long been seen as a key tool in Putin’s ambition to restore Russian influence globally.

Amid continuing confusion about Wagner’s status, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that the group would continue its military role in Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Wagner fighters have a reputation for brutality in Africa and have played a key role in Syria supporting President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces.

In Ukraine, months of bitter fighting in the devastated city of Bakhmut is believed to have cost thousands of Wagner men’s lives.

In an expletive-laden video ahead of the Wagner mutiny, Prigozhin accused the Defense Ministry of depriving his men of the arms they needed.

Bakhmut remains the only Russian military gain of any note in more than six months of heavy fighting. And Ukraine says its forces have pushed the Russians back around Bakhmut in recent days. — BBC