The absence of two important generals from the public scene, the unconfirmed reports of the arrest of one of them, as well as the Kremlin’s refusal to clarify the situation encourage rumors of a military purge in Russia after the abortive rebellion of the Wagner Group and the forced exile to Belarus of its leader, the opaque oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Dimitri Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, made a timid denial on Wednesday when The New York Times published that General Sergei Surovikin, second in command of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, knew of Prigozhin’s plans. It was, according to him, one more of the “speculations and conjectures” that there will be about the events of the past weekend.
Then another medium, The Moscow Times, assured that Surovikin is detained, based on sources from the Russian Ministry of Defense. Peskov again avoided the matter yesterday. “I recommend you contact the Ministry of Defense. This is his prerogative, ”he noted.
“The matter with him was not OK. For the authorities. I can’t say more,” said one of the sources quoted by The Moscow Times. According to a second source, “apparently he (Surovikin) chose (Wagner’s) side and they caught him by the balls.”
Surovikin, 56, was the only Russian military commander in whom Prigozhin, at odds with the military leadership for months, had publicly said he trusted. On Friday, June 23, when he announced that he was taking up arms with 25,000 men, several Russian generals released videos calling on Wagner’s mercenaries to desist. One was Surovikin.
“We have fought together… We are of the same blood, we are warriors. I ask you to stop. The enemy is just waiting for the situation to worsen in our country,” Surovikin told them. The 56-year-old general, a veteran of Afghanistan and other conflicts such as Chechnya and more recently Syria, has not been seen in public since.
Nicknamed “General Armageddon” for his harshness, Putin entrusted him in October last year with the direction of the military campaign in Ukraine. He left that responsibility in January 2023, when he was replaced by the chief of the Army General Staff, Valeri Gerasimov. Surovikin was second.
Gerasimov is precisely the other general whose absence in public feeds the rumors that something is brewing behind the scenes in Russia’s military leadership. 67 years old, he has led the Russian army since 2012, when Sergei Shoigu took over the Defense portfolio. Before his men marched on Saturday, June 24, on Moscow, Prigozhin demanded their arrest.
Shoigu has appeared on television in several videos released by the ministry he heads, but Gerasimov has not been seen in weeks. It is true that Putin was not seen for two days either, until he appeared at various events in an attempt to consolidate his leadership. In any case, it is striking that Gerasimov was absent on Tuesday from the various meetings between the head of the Kremlin and the military, whom he thanked for his role in putting an end to the coup.
Military blogger Vladimir Romanov said Surovikin’s arrest took place on Sunday and that he is in the Lefortovo detention center. The Financial Times newspaper also said he is in custody, but it is not clear whether he is charged with conspiracy or just for questioning.
Other military bloggers claimed that he and other senior officers were being questioned. The influential Telegram channel Rybar assured that it was a purge among those who showed “lack of decision” to quell the rebellion.
In response to this information, Surovikin’s daughter, Veronika, came out yesterday, denying her father’s arrest on the Telegram channel Baza. “Nothing has happened to him. He is at his place of work,” she stated.
