A prominent Russian journalist said on Tuesday that General Sergei Surovikin, the former commander of Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, had been ousted as head of the country’s aerospace forces, Reuters reports. He is the fifth general to be fired since February 24, 2022.
There was no official confirmation of this information from Alexei Venediktov, the former head of the now-defunct Ekho Moskvy radio station, with good connections in the Russian military, but he was quoted by some other Russian news outlets on social media.
Venediktov said on his Telegram channel that Surovikin had been dismissed by official decree, without elaborating. The general has not been seen in public since the June 24 riot by the Wagner mercenary group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin against the system. defense of Russia.
During the revolt, Surovikin appeared on video, looking uncomfortable and without insignia, urging Prigozhin to resign. Since the riot, Russian and foreign news reports have said that Surovikin was under investigation for possible complicity in it.
Surovikin earned the nickname “General Armageddon” during the Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war. Last October he was put in charge of Russian military operations in Ukraine, but in January that role was passed to General Valery Gerasimov, head of the General Staff, and Surovikin was appointed Gerasimov’s deputy.