Titled “general ArmageddonHis brutal methods make Serguei Surovikin one of the emblematic faces of the Russian offensive against Ukraine. But his ties to the Wagner paramilitary group and its leader, Yevgueni Prigozhin, complicated his plans.
“Army General Serguei Surovikin has been relieved of his duties,” the state agency RIA Novosti announced on Wednesday, citing a source tracking movements within the Russian military.
Since the attempted mutiny of the Wagner group, the influential 56-year-old general has disappeared from public events, which for analysts dictated his demise.
In the early hours of June 23 to 24, when Prigozhin was defending the fall of the Russian military top and his mercenary group was advancing towards Moscow, Surovikin appeared in a video speaking in a solemn tone and while holding a gun.
“I address the fighters and leaders of the Wagner group (…) We are of the same blood, we are warriors. I ask you to stop before it is too late,” he asked.
Less than 24 hours later, Prigozhin withdrew and, according to various sources, went into exile in Belarus. But Surovikin’s appeal, which was too quickly publicized and considered far-fetched by some observers, was not enough to prevent the general’s marginalization because of his ties to the Wagner group.
With a reputation for being ruthless, Soerovikin has long been regarded as the paramilitary group’s main ally within the Russian Defense Ministry, despite Prigozhin calling for the removal of Minister Serguei Choigu and General Staff Commander Valeri Guerasimov .
Support from the Wagner group
While Prigozhin accused the Russian Ministry of Defense of robbing his mercenaries of ammunition, in May the leader of the paramilitary group managed to make Surovikin his main interlocutor.
When Soerovikin was appointed commander of Russian forces in Ukraine in October 2022, Prigozhin celebrated the news. But the position lasted only three months, as he was eventually replaced by the commander of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov.
In November 2022, Russian troops were forced to leave the city of Kherson and the right bank of the Dnieper River, in southern Ukraine, on orders from Surovikin. A significant setback for Moscow.
The general then led a campaign of airstrikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, a strategy designed to bring the neighboring country to its knees but which ended in failure.
After being replaced by Gerasimov, Soerovikin remained in the circle of commanders, always accompanied by the hard memory as a veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the second Chechen war in the 2000s and the brutal campaign in Syria in 2015, when he received the award received nickname “Syrian butcher”.
attacks on hospitals
“He is a well-known person and the military talks about him a lot. He has a reputation for being a crazed commander… and ruthless,” a Russian military analyst, who asked for anonymity, told AFP.
Other analysts emphasize his qualities as a commander. The ‘southern’ troops, which he commanded in Ukraine until the end of last year, were the ones who captured most of the territories in Ukraine.
Rybar, one blogging A military officer following the fighting in Ukraine says Soerovikin’s resignation took place “immediately after” the Wagner group’s uprising, but that this is “not necessarily a condemnation, perhaps just a temporary measure”.
Before Ukraine, Surovikin, born in Siberia, was one of the commanders of the Russian forces in Syria. The NGO Human Rights Watch accused and held him responsible for attacks on residential areas, schools and hospitals in 2020.
In Russia, he became known for his participation in the 1991 coup attempt, which saw the death sentence of the USSR, and was arrested after witnessing members of his military group, for which he was responsible, kill three pro-government demonstrators. democracy.
Source: DN
