President Putin (M) with General Sergei Suroviki (R).
Thu 29 June 2023:
General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, has reportedly been detained by Russian authorities amid a purge of military officers following the brief uprising by Wagner mercenary group, according to sources cited by the Moscow Times newspaper and a Russian military blogger.
Vladimir Putin has decorated Surovikin, a veteran of Russia’s conflicts in Chechnya and Syria who has been dubbed “General Armageddon” by the Russian media for his reputed ruthlessness.
Citing two sources close to Russia’s Defence Ministry, the Russian-language service of The Moscow Times reported on Wednesday that Surovikin was arrested due to what one of the unnamed sources said was choosing Wagner chief Yevgeny “Prigozhin’s side during the uprising”.
A Russian military blogger, Vladimir Romanov, also reported Surovikin’s arrest on Wednesday, according to the Moscow Times, while the Washington, DC-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported another Russian source as claiming that military “affiliates” of Surovikin had been “accused of complicity in the rebellion”.
The newspaper reported that the Russian Defense Ministry has not yet responded to the rumors of Surovikin’s arrest.
The Defense Ministry has yet to comment on the alleged arrest of Surovikin, who has not been seen in public since Saturday. https://t.co/dr7xM4N33k
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) June 28, 2023
The ISW reported on Wednesday that a prominent Russian military blogging site had claimed that a “large-scale purge” of the Russian military command was under way following the attempt by Wagner forces to enter Moscow and apprehend the country’s senior military leaders.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence is undergoing what Rybar, a pro-Kremlin military analysis channel on Telegram, described as a “crash test” for loyalty amid apparent “indecisiveness” by some in the Russian military command when it came to crushing the Wagner mutiny and their “support” for the private mercenary force, the ISW reported.
Rybar said the uprising by the Wagner force had “become a pretext for a massive purge in the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces”.
2/ A prominent Russian milblogger claimed that #Wagner’s rebellion has prompted “large-scale purges” among the command cadre of the Russian armed forces and that the Russian MoD is currently undergoing a “crash test” for loyalty. https://t.co/owjfEW9jU1
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) June 29, 2023
“If Russian authorities did arrest Surovikin then the Kremlin will likely use Surovikin and his affiliates as scapegoats to publicly explain why the Russian military and Russian internal security apparatuses responded poorly to the rebellion and to justify a potential overhaul of the Russian military leadership,” the ISW wrote.
“ISW cannot confirm any of these speculations about the command changes at this time, but it is evident that the armed rebellion is continuing to have substantial ramifications in the information space.”
A SENIOR RUSSIAN GENERAL HAD ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE OF PRIGOZHIN’S PLANS, REPORT
The New York Times also reported that Surovikin had advance knowledge that Prigozhin was planning a rebellion and that Russian authorities were checking if he was complicit.
“There is now a lot of different speculation and gossip surrounding these events,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, according to Russian news agencies.
“I think that’s an example of that,” he said, dismissing the Times report.
The Russian army and the people “all stood by the President (Vladimir Putin) during the uprising”, Peskov added.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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