Top Russian Commander Reportedly Arrested Following Prigozhin’s Short-Lived Mutiny
Russian General Sergei Surovikin, deputy commander of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine and current commander of Russia’s aerospace forces has reportedly been arrested, according to sources cited by The Moscow Times’ Russian service.
Surovikin, who was also for a few monthe the supreme commander of the operations in Ukraine, has not been seen in public since Saturday, when Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an armed rebellion against Russia’s military leadership. Editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy radio station, Alexei Venediktov, reported that Surovikin has not had contact with his family for three days, and his guards have been unresponsive.
Military blogger Vladimir Romanov also said on Wednesday that Surovikin was detained on Sunday, the day after Prigozhin’s failed mutiny, and is allegedly being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo detention center. The Defense Ministry has refrained from providing any information even through internal channels.
Sources close to the Defense Ministry suggested that the Surokivin’s arrest was related to Prigozhin, implying that the general had sided with him during the uprising. A separate report from the Washington, DC-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cites another Russian source saying that the general’s “affiliates” had been “accused of complicity in the rebellion.”
Prior to the short-lived mutiny, it’s been known that while Prigozhin’s relationship with minister of defense Sergei K. Shoigu and chief of general staff General Valery V. Gerasimov was fraught to say the least, Prigozhin had a working relationship with Surovikin, with the latter even acting as a mediator between Prigozhin and the two other military chiefs in May when they cut key supplies of munitions and manpower to Wagner in Bakhmut.
The New York Times, citing unnamed US officials, reported on Tuesday that Surovikin had prior knowledge of Prigozhin’s plan to incite a rebellion against Russia’s military leadership. Reuters also reported that according to unnamed US officials, Surovikin was sympathetic to Prigozhin’s rebellion but they can not confirm whether the general helped the rebellion in any way.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the report as speculation and gossip the following day, suggesting that Putin did not concede to Prigozhin’s demands for a reshuffling of the military’s top brass.
“There will be a lot of various speculations, gossip and so on around these events — I think this is one of such examples.” Peskov emphasized that the country is united with Putin. “The army, the people, everyone was next to the president.”
Prigozhin’s Ally or Putin’s Scapegoat?
Military analyst Rob Lee points out that Wagner shot down more than seven Russian military aircraft during the mutiny — which would be a “strange thing to do if the commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces was actively supporting you.”
Surovikin’s arrest could be part of a “large-scale purge” prompted by the rebellion, as reported by the ISW, which cited Rybar, a prominent Russian military analysis channel. The Ministry of Defense, it said, is undergoing what it called a “crash test” for loyalty within Russian military command.
“If Russian authorities did arrest Surovikin,” the ISW wrote, “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.”
Information for this story was found via The New York Times, Reuters, The Moscow Times, ISW, Twitter, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
