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Russia's Defense Ministry appears to have deleted a page on its website that previously contained information about General Sergei Surovikin, a former commander of Russia's forces in Ukraine who appeared to resurface on Monday after disappearing from public view for weeks.
Surovikin hadn't been sighted publicly since the Wagner Group's aborted mutiny on June 24. He was reportedly detained in late June by authorities as part of a purge of military officials following the rebellion. Russian state media reported on August 22 that he had been dismissed as chief of the air force, and Colonel General Viktor Afzalov had replaced him, but the Kremlin had not confirmed or commented on the matter.
The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, which has close ties to Russian security forces, and the BRIEF Russian Telegram channel, first reported that a page on the ministry's website that previously listed Surovikin as commander of the Russian aerospace forces disappeared on Wednesday. A search by Newsweek confirmed this to be accurate.
Only a profile on the aerospace forces' deputy, Sergey Dronov, remains live at the time of writing.
Newsweek reached out to Russia's Defense Ministry via email for comment.
"This can be considered the first official confirmation of the general's resignation," the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel wrote.
The development comes after an unverified photo emerged on Monday that appeared to show Surovikin out in public with a woman resembling his wife, Anna.
Surovikin, who earned the nickname "General Armageddon" in Russian media because of his aggressive military tactics in Chechnya and Syria, was last seen in a video appeal calling for an end to the June 24 mutiny led by Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, with whom he was reported to have good relations.
Reuters reported United States intelligence as saying Surovikin was sympathetic to the Wagner rebellion, but it was unclear if he actively supported it. Reports in July based on a U.S. intelligence briefing also suggested that the general had known in advance about Prigozhin's plans to march on Moscow.
Russian officials have so far refused to comment on Surovikin's whereabouts.
On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu brushed off a reporter when asked to comment on Surovikin's apparent resurfacing. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also deferred all questions on the matter during press briefings to the country's Defense Ministry.
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About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more