Surovikin on CIS air defense?
Putin’s missing general is said to have been given a new job
September 10, 2023, 4:59 p.m
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After the uprising of the Wagner mercenaries, Sergei Surovikin suddenly disappeared from the Russian public. He was seen again for the first time last Tuesday. According to Russian media, he is now working again, but it has nothing to do with the attack on Ukraine.
Russian General Sergei Surovikin has been appointed head of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Air Defense Coordination Committee, according to media reports. This is reported by the pro-government Russian news platform EADaily citing the Council of CIS Defense Ministers. The decision is said to have been made unanimously. There is no statement from the Kremlin.
During the attack on Ukraine, Surovikin was commander in chief of the Russian troops from October 2022 to January 2023. The general was also one of the most important allies of the now killed leader of the Wagner mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in the power struggle with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
Interrogated by the FSB under house arrest?
Surovikin, who earned the nickname “General Armageddon” during the Syrian civil war, was commander in chief of Russian troops in Ukraine from October 2022 to early 2023. During this time, he ordered the withdrawal of Moscow’s units from the city of Kherson.
Shortly after the uprising of the Wagner mercenaries, Surovikin disappeared from public view. In mid-August he was removed from his position as head of the Russian Aerospace Forces. According to media reports, there were also investigations into whether he could have been involved in the mercenaries’ mutiny. During this time, Surovikin is said to have been under house arrest and interrogated by the Russian secret service FSB.
Last Tuesday, a picture of the missing general emerged for the first time since the uprising. The well-known Russian TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak published a photo of Surovikin. She wrote: “General Sergei Surovikin is outside. Alive, healthy, at home, with his family, in Moscow. The photo was taken today.”