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Mutinous Russian mercenary fighters who surged most of the way to Moscow have agreed to turn back to avoid bloodshed, their leader says, in a de-escalation of what had become a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin's grip on power.

The fighters of the Wagner private army run by former Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin were already most of the way to the capital on Saturday, having captured the city of Rostov and set off on an 1100 km race to Moscow.

In an audio message, Prigozhin said the fighters would return to base because of the risk of blood being spilled.

A deal to halt further movement of Wagner fighters across Russia in return for guarantees of safety for the rebels was brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, his office said.

Earlier, Prigozhin said his men were on a "march for justice" to remove corrupt and incompetent Russian commanders he blames for botching the war in Ukraine.

In a televised address from the Kremlin, Putin said Russia's very existence was under threat.

"We are fighting for the lives and security of our people, for our sovereignty and independence, for the right to remain Russia, a state with a thousand-year history," he said.

"All those who deliberately stepped on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed insurrection, who took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, will answer both to the law and to our people."

Putin later signed a law tightening rules for breaking martial law in places where it has been imposed, the RIA news agency said.

Video obtained by Reuters showed troop carriers and two flatbed trucks each carrying a tank driving 50 km beyond Voronezh, more than half way to Moscow, where a helicopter fired on them.

Prigozhin, whose private army fought the bloodiest battles in Ukraine even as he feuded for months with the military top brass, said he had captured the headquarters of Russia's Southern Military District in the city of Rostov without firing a shot.

Rostov serves as the main rear logistical hub for Russia's entire invasion force in Ukraine.

© RAW 2023

Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew is confident his proud midfield group will rebound from last week's horror show as the Suns look to stay in the hunt for a maiden AFL finals appearance.

With co-captain Touk Miller (hamstring) still sidelined, highly-touted Suns Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson were given a lesson by Carlton's hungry on-ball division in a 59-point thrashing.

It left Gold Coast fighting to keep their top-eight dream alive with a 6-7 record.

But Dew expects a strong response from his engine room in Sunday's clash with Hawthorn at Heritage Bank Stadium.

"That group in particular has been the one that has pulled us out of a hole more than a couple of times this year," Dew said.

"I would expect exactly the same response. That group there are very proud and they'll get back to work.

"They don't go out there to play that way and we've got to give credit to Carlton - they stepped it up and got the jump on us in the centre bounces.

"I'm pretty keen for our midfielders to go to work again."

The Suns swung the axe, making four changes - three of them unforced - for their first outing at their regular home venue since round eight.

Alex Davies, Tom Berry and Rory Atkins were all dropped after the Carlton loss and Joel Jeffrey (foot) is out injured.

Lachie Weller has overcome a knee injury to play his first game since round seven while Sam Flanders, Brandon Ellis and Hewago Oea have been recalled.

"We dropped one last week and we get another opportunity to get four points and keep some momentum," Dew said.

"Our body of work recently has been strong, so bounce-back is important.

"It's a great chance to be back at home ... so we're expecting to play really well and play our style for as long as possible."

Dew will do battle with Hawks coach Sam Mitchell - one of his 2008 premiership teammates - for the third time.

The pair have split their previous encounters 1-1.

"He's got Hawthorn playing the way he wants them to play ... you can really see what they're trying to do," Dew said.

"They play an aggressive brand of footy, quite attacking, and in the last month they've actually built some consistency in that space.

"Even before then you could see some signs in quarters and halves, which you get from a young team.

"But now they're playing with a bit of freedom and some confidence, so they're always dangerous."

© AAP 2023

Australia has appointed its first national cybersecurity co-ordinator responsible for tackling one of the biggest challenges facing the country: cyber criminals.

Air Vice-Marshal Darren Goldie has been chosen after a four-month candidate search and will start in the role next month.

He will support Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil to lead co-ordination of national security policy, responses to major incidents and whole-of-government preparedness.

Ms O'Neil said a lack of co-ordination against cyber threats had left Australians at a disadvantage to attackers.

"There is a big conceptual shift we have to make with cyber security; in the past we have seen national security matters as principally the concern of government ... (but) it has to be a partnership approach," she said.

"One of the most important things Air Marshal Goldie will be doing is working with companies under attack and working with citizens to manage cyber incidents."

Ms O'Neil said the goal in a digital age could not be to eradicate cyber attacks but rather make sure Australia was able to respond quickly and limit the risk of them happening.

Asked why the government had not appointed a cybersecurity expert to the role, Ms O'Neil said the senior commander had previously been responsible for security in the air force.

"Something that I don't think is understood in this area is that a cyber incident response is not principally a technical problem, it is an operational problem," she said.

"We are incredibly confident and very pleased that this commendable person, who has served his nation in uniform for so long, has agreed to take on this responsibility."

Since joining the Royal Australian Air Force in 1993, Air Marshal Goldie has held several distinguished roles including a stint in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, where he provided strategic foreign policy advice.

Air Marshal Goldie said Australia faced a "dire" cyber security challenge.

"That challenge will continue to increase in its complexity and severity and I think we're all invested in it together as a nation," he said.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the co-ordinator's first task should be to determine what data was breached in a recent cyber attack against HWL Ebsworth.

The law firm has clients at commercial and government levels in every state and territory, including some of the biggest banks.

Senator Paterson said Air Marshal Goldie must investigate the implications of the breach, how to mitigate them and the steps taken to inform and support impacted parties

Monash University cybersecurity expert Monica Whitty told AAP the appointment signalled the government was treating cyber attacks as a serious concern.

But she said there needed to be a bigger focus on the impact of cyber crime on the public.

"Victims of cyber attacks are often expected to look after themselves (but) we need to provide support as we do for victims of other types of crime," she said.

Prof Whitty said it would also be important to further discuss ransomware.

The government's position is that people and businesses should not pay ransoms to cyber criminals.

"We haven't had a proper conversation about ransomware and whether we should or shouldn't pay it ... we don't actually know yet whether or not it fuels other attacks," Prof Whitty said.

In cases where a company breach occurred through no fault of the customer, there should be more transparency and information about the data obtained, she added.

"People often fail to understand how their data can be used and recombined to find out other information and steal an identity," Prof Witty said.

© AAP 2023