General Sergey Surovikin, former head of military operations in Ukraine, is a member of the Wagner group, according to documents obtained by CNN.
New elements on the links between Wagner and the Russian army. According to documents seen 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 Russian investigative outlet Dossier Center show the serviceman 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 which could explain why the group so easily seized the military base of Rostov-on-the-Don during its ephemeral rebellion last weekend, underlines CNN.
Surovikin already arrested?
These new revelations could further weaken the position of General Sergei Surovikin, already implicated by the New York Times for his closeness to Evgueni Prigojine. In an article published on Tuesday, the newspaper asserts that the American intelligence services have become certain 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 post of deputy to Valeri Guerassimov, current commander of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, General Surovikin could moreover be the victim of the purge that certain Russian military bloggers are announcing within the Russian military apparatus. While he has not been seen since the end of the rebellion and some wonder where he is, the Moscow Times, he 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 text under threat. Some observers also pointed out that he was not wearing his shoulder pads, which seems abnormal for such a high-ranking military official.
Nicknamed General “Armageddon”, Sergei Surovikin knew Yevgeny Prigojine in Syria in 2015, when he led Russia’s military intervention in support of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. A function which earned him another nickname, “the butcher of Syria”, because of the numerous civilian victims caused by the Russian bombardments.
Source: BFM TV
