Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the private army of inmate recruits and other mercenaries that has fought some of the deadliest battles in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is in Belarus after his abortive armed rebellion against the Kremlin, Belarus’s President said on Tuesday.

The exile to Belarus of the 62-year-old owner of the Wagner Group was part of the deal that ended the short-lived mutiny in Russia. He and some of his troops would be welcome to stay “for some time” at their own expense, President Alexander Lukashenko said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said preparations are underway for Wagner to hand over its heavy weapons to the Russian military. Prigozhin had said his troops were preparing to turn over their weapons ahead of a July 1 deadline for them to sign contracts to serve under the Russian military’s command.

Russian authorities also said on Tuesday that they have closed a criminal investigation into the uprising and are pressing no charges against Prigozhin or his troops after the negotiated deal. The Federal Security Service, or FSB, said its investigation found that those involved in the mutiny, which lasted less than 24 hours, “ceased activities directed at committing the crime”.

Still, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to set the stage for charges of financial wrongdoing against an affiliated organisation owned by Prigozhin. He told a military gathering that Prigozhin’s Concord Group earned 80 billion roubles ($941 million) from a contract to provide the military with food, and that Wagner had received over 86 billion roubles (over $1 billion) in the past year.