A top Russian general, Mr Sergey Surovikin, a one-time “chosen one” of Vladimir Putin, dubbed the “General of Armageddon” for his brutality in Syria and Ukraine, has “disappeared” amid claims that he knew in advance of the armed Wagner uprising that threatened the Putin regime.

One theory is that General Sergei “Armageddon” Surovikin is being questioned over the plot to oust the defense minister Sergei Shoigu by Yevgeny Prigozhin in the midst of a purge of internal “enemies” in the ministry.

Surovikin, 56 years old, is the second in the hierarchy in the Russian armed forces. It is known that he has links with the “coup” Prigozhin, the leader of the mercenary army.

U.S. officials briefed by U.S. intelligence said a top Russian general had advance knowledge of Prigozhin’s plans to rebel against Shoigu and armed forces chief General Valery Gerasimov over failures in the war against Ukraine, the New York Times reported. York Times.

The suspicion is that this general is Surovikin, a commander known for his cruelty and brutality. Now the well-connected pro-war Telegram channel Rybar has revealed that Surovikin “has not been seen since Saturday”. The channel linked to the Russian military said: “The whereabouts of the “Armageddon general” is not known for sure. There is a version that he is under interrogation.”

Meanwhile, the channel said that while Chief of Staff Gerasimov officially retains his title, he is “no longer involved in decisions on (war-related) issues.”

Surovikin was put in charge of the Russian war effort in Ukraine in October only to be “removed” by Putin in January – however he remained as Gerasimov’s deputy. Before disappearing, Surovikin made a desperate appeal to “Wagnerists” on Saturday to abandon their opposition to the military leadership and return to their bases “before it’s too late”.

It was revealed that he had been ordered back to Moscow from the front line. It now appears that this may be due to suspicions of his knowledge of the “coup” as a sympathizer. As he said in his intervention on Saturday: “We cannot play the enemy’s game at this difficult time for our country. Before it is too late, it is necessary to obey the mandate of the popularly elected president of the Russian Federation”. It was his last public appearance.

Surovikin’s last public appearance

The Rybal channel commented: “The armed mutiny of the Wagner PMC has become a pretext for large-scale purges in the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces and a “crash test” of the ministry’s loyalty. The lower echelons are also being purged of those who have shown support for Wagner’s rebellion against Putin’s commanders,” it is claimed.

“Putin is afraid of Shoigu”

Meanwhile, another report said Putin is too scared to ax his “extremely dangerous” defense minister, fearing him as a direct rival.
The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel cited an insider as saying that Putin could not agree to rebel leader Prigozhin’s demand to oust the 68-year-old defense minister because of Shoigu’s popularity among senior officials. “He is extremely dangerous in case of resignation, because of his knowledge, the huge number of people loyal to him in leadership positions and the presence of levers of influence … in the Kremlin,” said the source of the channel.

Shoigu has served longer in the Russian government than Putin himself, and knows about “skeletons in the closet.” He is not like Putin’s other ministers “whose silence and inaction can be bought with money,” the source said. “Everything is more serious here. Putin is not ready for such a conflict now.”