Where are Russia's top generals? Rumors swirl after mercenary mutiny
Send a link to a friend
[June 29, 2023]
By Andrew Osborn
LONDON (Reuters) -Russia's most senior generals have dropped out of
public view after a failed mercenary mutiny aimed at toppling the top
military brass, amid a drive by President Vladimir Putin to reassert his
authority.
Unconfirmed reports say that at least one person has been detained and
is being questioned.
Armed forces chief of staff General Valery Gerasimov has not appeared in
public or on state TV since the aborted mutiny on Saturday when
mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded Gerasimov be handed over.
Nor has he been mentioned in a defence ministry press release since June
9.
Gerasimov, 67, is the commander of Russia's war in Ukraine, and the
holder of one of Russia's three "nuclear briefcases," according to some
Western military analysts.
Absent from view too is General Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed "General
Armageddon" by the Russian press for his aggressive tactics in the
Syrian conflict, who is deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.
A New York Times report, based on a U.S. intelligence briefing, said on
Tuesday Surovikin had advance knowledge of the mutiny and that Russian
authorities were checking whether he was complicit.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jun/29/images/ads/current/nutrienag_sda_HEROES_2023.png)
The Kremlin on Wednesday played down the report, saying that there would
be a lot of speculation and gossip. On Thursday, it declined to answer
questions about Surovikin, referring journalists to the defence
ministry, which has not yet made a statement about him.
Asked if Putin still had trust in Surovikin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry
Peskov did not give an answer either way. He said only that Putin worked
with the defence minister and chief of the General Staff rather than
someone of Surovikin's rank.
U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday that Surovikin had been
supportive of Prigozhin, but that Western intelligence did not know with
certainty whether he had helped the rebellion in any way.
The Russian-language version of the Moscow Times and one military
blogger reported Surovikin's arrest, while some other military
correspondents who command large followings in Russia said he and other
senior officers were being questioned by the FSB security service to
verify their loyalty.
Reuters could not determine whether Surovikin had been arrested or was
being screened, along with others, for their reliability in a more
standard exercise.
Rybar, an influential channel on the Telegram messaging application run
by a former Russian defence ministry press officer, said a purge was
underway.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jun/29/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif)
He said the authorities were trying to weed out military personnel
deemed to have shown "a lack of decisiveness" in putting down the
mercenary mutiny amid some reports that parts of the armed forces appear
to have done little to stop Wagner fighters in the initial stage of the
rebellion.
"The armed insurgency by the Wagner private military company has become
a pretext for a massive purge in the ranks of the Russian armed forces,"
Rybar said.
Such a move, if confirmed, could alter the way Russia wages its war in
Ukraine — which it calls a "special military operation" — and cause
turmoil in the ranks at a time when Moscow is trying to thwart a
Ukrainian counteroffensive.
It could also cement or elevate the positions of other senior military
and security figures regarded as loyal.
There was no official comment on what was going on from the defence
ministry.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Some Russian and Western military and political analysts believe Defence
Minister Sergei Shoigu, a veteran Putin ally who Prigozhin wanted to
bring down along with Gerasimov because of his alleged incompetence, may
actually now be safer in his job.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/062923PIX/news_m34.jpg)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov
attend an annual meeting of the Defence Ministry Board in Moscow,
Russia, December 21, 2022. Sputnik/Mikhail Kuravlev/Kremlin via
REUTERS/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jun/29/images/ads/current/bennet_lda_010722.png)
"I think he (Prigozhin) actually expected something would be done
about Shoigu and Gerasimov, that Putin would rule in his favour,"
Michael Kofman, a Russian military specialist at the Carnegie
Endowment think tank, wrote on Twitter.
"Instead, his mutiny may have ensured their continued tenure,
despite being universally recognised as incompetent, and widely
detested in the Russian Federation's armed forces."
General Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard and once Putin's
bodyguard, appears to be another beneficiary after appearing in
public to say his men were ready to "stand to the death" to defend
Moscow from Wagner.
He has spoken of the possibility of getting heavy weaponry and tanks
for his forces in the wake of the mutiny.
Gerasimov was conspicuous by his absence when Putin on Tuesday
thanked the army for averting a civil war, unlike Shoigu who has
made several public appearances since.
Surovikin, Gerasimov's deputy, was last seen on Saturday when he
appeared in a video appealing to Prigozhin to halt his mutiny. He
looked exhausted and it was unclear if he was speaking under duress.
Dara Massicot, an expert in the Russian military at the RAND
Corporation think-tank, said that something looked odd about the
video, in which Surovikin has an automatic weapon on his lap.
"I noted a few days ago, there was something very off here. He’s not
wearing his insignia or rank tabs. 30+ years in the military and
he’s not got them on, even at night? Nope," she wrote on Twitter.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jun/29/images/ads/current/napa_sda_HEROES_2023.png)
There were unconfirmed Russian media and blogger reports on
Wednesday evening that Surovikin was being held in Moscow's
Lefortovo detention facility after being arrested.
Alexei Venediktov, a well-connected journalist, said - without
citing his sources - that Surovikin had not been in touch with his
family since Saturday and that his bodyguards had gone silent too.
He said, however, that Surovikin was not being held in Lefortovo.
Prigozhin, who had spent months vilifying Shoigu and Gerasimov for
their alleged blunders in overseeing the war in Ukraine, had
frequently praised Surovikin, who is widely respected in the army
for his experience in Chechnya and Syria.
Surovikin, who did a stint as overall commander of the Ukraine war
before Gerasimov was appointed to take over, is regarded by Western
military analysts as an effective operator and had sometimes been
mooted by Russian war correspondents as a potential future defence
minister.
Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's
College London, said Surovikin's removal, if true, could be more
destabilising to Russia's war effort than Saturday's mutiny,
"especially if other associates of Prigozhin/Surovikin start to get
purged.
"Surovikin (is) a brute but also one of the more capable Russian
commanders," Freedman said on Twitter.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; editing by Mike Collett-White, Lisa
Shumaker, Angus MacSwan and Mark Heinrich)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jun/29/images/ads/current/guzzardos_sda_HEROS_2023.png) |