A top Kremlin general has been arrested after he has "vanished" amid claims he knew about Yevgeny Prigozhin's attempted coup in Russia over the weekend.
It is alleged that General Sergei ‘Armageddon’ Surovikin is under interrogation over a plot to oust defence minister Sergei Shoigu amid a hunt to purge the enemies within.
Surovikin, 56, is the second-in-command of the Russian armed forces.
He has known links to "coup leader" Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenary army chief.
On Saturday the mercenary warlord turned on his former ally Putin and marched on Russia's capital Moscow in what experts say was an attempted coup.
Now rumors of his arrest have been published by military blogger Vladimir Romanov - who claims is in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention centre, writes The Moscow Times.
Wagner mercenaries left Ukraine to seize a military headquarters in a southern Russian city and rolled troops for hundreds of miles toward Moscow.
A series of dramatic hours followed but after less than 24 hours, they turned around some 200km from Moscow.
US officials briefed on American intelligence said a top Russian general had advanced knowledge of Prigozhin’s plans to rebel over failings in the war against Ukraine, reported the New York Times.
Well-connected pro-war Rybar Telegram channel revealed that Surovikin "had not been seen since Saturday".
The military-linked channel then revealed that his whereabouts are unknown and said he may be under interrogation.
The channel said that while Gerasimov formally retains his title he is "no longer involved in decisions of issues in the [war]".
In command of the special military operation now is Airborne Forces Commander Mikhail Teplinsky.
Surovikin was put in charge of the Russian war effort in October only to be stripped of responsibility by Putin in January, however, he remained as Gerasimov’s deputy.
Junior ranks who showed support for Wagner’s uprising against Putin’s commanders are also being purged, it is claimed.
Prigozhin broke his silence over the coup on Monday, claiming his Wagner mutiny was not an attempt to overthrow the government.
In an 11-minute audio message, he defended his short-lived insurrection but said his troops were on a march to demonstrate "our protest, not to topple the government".
He claimed the decision to turn around the march on Moscow was because he and his fighters didn't want to shed Russian blood.
Prigozhin didn’t offer any details as to where he was or what his future plans are but said he was forced to take action after the Russian military attempted to destroy Wagner.
In exchange for his cooperation, the Kremlin has decided it will not press charges against Prigozhin or his group of soldiers.
His mercenaries were given the choice of following their leader, enlisting in the Russian Armed Forces, or returning home.
