After the Wagner uprising in June
London: Surovkin probably sidelined
07/12/2023, 10:12 am
The Russian general Surovikin remains missing, his fate is unknown. According to British intelligence, however, there is increasing evidence that he has been sidelined. His deputy is becoming more and more public.
British intelligence sees further signs that Russian general Sergei Surovikin has been sidelined after the Wagner private army mutiny. His deputy as head of the Russian air and space forces, Viktor Afsalov, is becoming more and more public, the Ministry of Defense said in London.
When Chief of Staff Valeri Gerasimov was recently seen on television for the first time since the Wagner uprising on June 24, Afsalov informed him via video. “Afsalov has been in office for at least four years, but this is probably his first public appearance with Gerasimov,” it said in London. “Afsalov’s increased publicity, while Surovikin’s whereabouts remain unclear, lends even more weight to the hypothesis that Surovikin was sidelined after the mutiny.”
Surovikin has not been seen since the mutiny. According to British estimates, he was a liaison with the Russian Ministry of Defense for Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. The British Ministry of Defense has published daily information on the course of the war since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, citing intelligence information. Moscow accuses London of a disinformation campaign.