Russian general Surovikin reportedly detained after Wagner mutiny

Russian General Sergei Surovikin has reportedly been detained for apparently knowing about the Wagner coup attempt ahead of time.

The military officer, dubbed “General Armageddon,” has not been seen in public since Saturday, June 24, when Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin declared war on Moscow.

This comes amid signs that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s purge has begun, with reports of investigations into military personnel who either failed to prevent the uprising or collaborated with it.

Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s invasion force in Ukraine and chief of its aerospace forces, has not been accused as a plotter in the revolt but has been detained for questioning, and it is unclear where he is being held.

The Kremlin has refused to explain why the general vanished from public view, but Surovikin’s daughter Veronika has stated that “everything is fine” with her father.

Putin has begun a clean-up operation at the top of the security services, members of the Moscow elite and western officials have said, with the president moving to quash critics, restore order and re-establish his dominance after the first coup attempt in Russia in three decades.

Many of the hardliners who have been known to sympathise with Wagner and criticise the regular armed forces have disappeared from view in recent days. At the same time, loyalists — such as defence minister Sergei Shoigu, whom Prigozhin hoped to unseat in his coup — have been given a platform and have been shown in public participating in high-level meetings and events.

“It remains unclear who was behind this, military rebellion,” said the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, during the bloc’s meeting on Thursday. Some generals have been arrested. So I expect Putin to be cleaning house within. And a more confident demeanor.”