Russian general Sergei Surovikin – not seen since the Wagner Group mutiny – has apparently reappeared.
A new photo appearing to show “General Armageddon” was published on social media by a well-known Russian media personality.
Rumours of his whereabouts have swirled since he dropped out of public view in the aftermath of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion against the Kremlin.
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As the uprising unfolded, he criticised Wagner’s fighters telling them to return to base and obey Vladimir Putin.
But while the mutiny was stood down, the questions about what Surovikin knew and when grew louder and louder.
Last month saw the suspected death of Prigozhin in a plane crash, with fingers pointed at Moscow.
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But, a post Telegram by Ksenia Sobchak has purportedly pictured Surovikin alive and well.
“General Sergei Surovikin is out. Alive, healthy, at home, with his family, in Moscow. Photo taken today,” she said on Monday.
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Sky News has not yet been able to verify the photo, which shows a man in sunglasses and a cap walking alongside a
woman resembling Surovikin’s wife, Anna.
A second report, published by prominent independent Russian journalist Alexei Venediktov on his Telegram channel, said: “General Surovikin is at home with his family. He is on leave and available to the defence ministry.”
A military veteran who served in the Soviet Union’s ultimately doomed war with Afghanistan during the 1980s, General Surovikin is infamous for ordering troops to open fire on pro-democracy protesters in Moscow, when three people were killed during the final days of the Soviet Union in 1991.
He went on to lead Russian forces’ intervention during the Syrian War in 2017, where he is accused of complicity in the indiscriminate bombing of opposition fighters and of overseeing chemical weapons attacks, in a campaign thought to have been pivotal in helping Syria’s government regain control over most of the country.
Nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian press for his aggressive tactics in the Syrian conflict, Surovikin has been serving as deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.
The consensus among experts is that Vladimir Putin’s decision to have him take charge of Russia’s forces in Ukraine is a direct result of his reputation for ruthlessness and brutality.
Military analyst Forbes McKenzie, head of McKenzie Intelligence, told Sky News the main reason for his appointment was Surovikin’s “brand”.
“He’s seen as a hero of the former Soviet Republic,” he said last year.
“He has shown his ability to wage a war that involves nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, the last of which he used in Syria.
