A Russian general who hasn’t been seen in public since the mutiny by Wagner mercenaries that threatened President Vladimir Putin’s rule has been removed from his post, RBC news reports.
(Bloomberg) — A Russian general who hasn’t been seen in public since the mutiny by Wagner mercenaries that threatened President Vladimir Putin’s rule has been removed from his post, RBC news reports.
Sergei Surovikin, 56, was relieved of his post as commander of Russia’s aerospace forces but remains in the Defense Ministry, the news website reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. He is no longer the deputy commander of military operations in Ukraine, RBC said, citing one person. The Defense Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The general was quizzed by security officials over his links to Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin following the short-lived revolt in June, a person with knowledge of the matter said at the time, as the Kremlin investigated whether elements in the military had knowledge of the uprising.
Prigozhin had repeatedly praised Surovikin’s leadership in Russia’s war in Ukraine, while demanding the ouster of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
Surovikin, a career military officer whose brutal reputation earned him the nickname “General Armageddon,” was last seen in a Defense Ministry video on June 24 urging Prigozhin to end the uprising. The mercenaries came within 200 kilometers (124 miles) of Moscow before Prigozhin agreed to withdraw his army to Belarus.
READ: Russian General Still Missing as Defense Chief Slams Mutiny
Putin put Surovikin in charge of Russia’s army in Ukraine in October and he oversaw the retreat by Russian troops from the Ukrainian city of Kherson the following month. Gerasimov replaced the general as overall commander of operations in Ukraine in January.
Putin has stood by Shoigu and Gerasimov since the mutiny. The President met Gerasimov during a visit Saturday to the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, which Prigozhin had taken over at the start of his rebellion.
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