Wars in Ukraine
Purge after the mutiny – General Armageddon arrested
Sergey Surovikin’s video message means the end of the rebellion
© Russian Defense Ministry/Handout / Picture Alliance
Sergey Surovikin became known as “General Armagedon”, according to the “Moscow Times” he was arrested for his role in the Wagner mutiny and is being interrogated.
Sergey Surovikin is deputy commander in chief of the Russian forces in the Ukraine. He is considered Putin’s most capable general and is credited with building the defense system against which the Ukrainian armed forces have been fighting for weeks. But he is also said to have a special closeness to the Wagner troupe. It was his decision to let the mercenaries carry out the Russian offensive in Bakhmut
The pro-Russian Telegram account Rybar wrote that Surovikin “has not been seen since Saturday. General Armageddon’s whereabouts are not known for certain. There is a version that he is being interrogated.”
Surovikin was given the name “General Armageddon” because of his ruthless actions in Syria. There he used the Luftwaffe against the strongholds of the insurgents, with no regard for the civilian population.
Alleged arrest on Sunday
That should have happened on Sunday. On Tuesday, US officials said a senior Russian general had knowledge of the rebellion. The aim of the short-lived uprising was to replace Defense Minister Shoigu and the Chief of the Armed Forces, General Valery Gerasimov. According to a report in the “Moscow Times”, it seems likely that this general is Surovikn.
According to a report in the “Moscow Times”, the arrest of Surovikin was “in connection with Prigozhin”. An anonymous source told the portal: “Apparently, during the uprising, Zurovikin chose Prigozhin and they grabbed him by the balls.”
Before Surovikin went underground, he called on the Wagner men in a video message on Saturday to give up the mutiny and return to their bases. To emphasize the seriousness of the situation, Surovikin held an automatic weapon in his hands. In the video he said: “We cannot play into the hands of the enemy at this difficult time for our country. Before it is too late, it is necessary to obey the order of the popularly elected President of the Russian Federation.”
failure of the rebellion
Many experts considered this video clip to be proof that the mutiny had no chance. The public disengagement from Surovikin showed that the Wagner group could not expect any support from senior military figures. The overweight and perpetually sweating Surovkin is underestimated in the west, but his standing in the troops is high. He is considered an experienced commander of troops in the field. Chief of Staff Gerasimov, on the other hand, is a brilliant theoretician, but he is credited with making the serious mistakes in the invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Rybar Telegram channel, the Kremlin is drawing further conclusions from the mutiny. So Gerasimov should formally receive his position, but be withdrawn from operational planning, his actual position should be taken over by the commander of the airborne troops, Mikhail Teplinsky.