General Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russia’s aerospace force, has been fired, according to official media, after he vanished from view following a failed rebellion by the Wagner mercenary organization in June.
Surovikin, who was known as “General Armageddon” for his brutal tactics, had a close relationship with Wagner and is said to have been ousted after the mercenary squad rebelled against Russia’s military hierarchy.
“Ex-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces Sergei Surovikin has been relieved of his post,” Russia’s state-run RIA news agency quoted a source as saying.
It was stated that Surovikin would temporarily take over his old position from Colonel-General Viktor Afzalov, the Chief of Staff of the aerospace force.
Veteran of Moscow’s battles dating back to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Surovikin was a key commander in Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine and was long seen as Wagner’s supporter in the defense ministry.
Surovikin was formally introduced as a go-between between Wagner and the army in May after Wagner commander Yevgeny Prigozhin vehemently accused Russian military commanders of failing to supply his forces with weapons.
After Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin called for the overthrow of Russia’s military command on the night of June 23–24, Surovikin then made a highly unusual video appeal to the mercenary group.
After turning back his forces and reaching an agreement with the Kremlin to be banished to Belarus in less than 24 hours, Prigozhin.
After that, Surovikin didn’t appear in the media, which sparked irate rumors that he had been arrested or demoted from his position.
Surovikin was reportedly “resting” and “not available” in July, according to a legislator and former army officer from Russia’s ruling party.
