New elements on the links between Wagner and the Russian army. According to documents obtained by CNN, General Sergei Surovikin, head of military operations in Ukraine between October 2022 and January 2023, is a member of the mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigojine.
Documents obtained by the Russian investigative outlet Dossier Center show that the military man was given “a VIP registration number” with the paramilitary organization in 2018.
According to Dossier Center, about 30 other senior Russian military and intelligence officials have their cards with Wagner. A porosity that could explain why the group so easily seized the Rostov-on-the-Don military base during their short-lived rebellion last weekend, CNN underlines.
Surovikin already arrested?
These new revelations could further weaken the position of General Serguï Sourovikine, already implicated by the New York Times because of its closeness to Evgeny Prigokhine. In an article published on Tuesday, the newspaper claims that US intelligence services have made sure that Sergei Surovikin was aware of Yevgeny Prigojine’s plans and that he had decided not to do anything to help him indirectly.
Demoted in January to the position of deputy to Valeri Guerassimov, the current commander of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, General Surovikin could also be a victim of the purge that some Russian military bloggers are announcing within the Russian military apparatus. Although he has not been seen since the end of the rebellion and some wonder where he is, the moscow Times, has already been arrested.
Shortly after the outbreak of the Wagner rebellion, Sergei Surovikin had asked Yevgeny Prigojine to put an end to his actions in a video that had fueled all the speculation. The general seemed uncomfortable there, as if he were reading a threatened text. Some observers also noted that he was not wearing shoulder pads, which seems abnormal for such a high-ranking military officer.
Nicknamed General “Armageddon,” Sergei Surovikin met Yevgeny Prigojine in Syria in 2015, when he led Russia’s military intervention in support of the Bashar al-Assad regime. A role that earned him another nickname, “the butcher of Syria”, due to the numerous civilian casualties caused by Russian bombing.
Source: BFM TV
