Vladimir Putin’s ‘General Armageddon’ has now been missing for 10 days, since the recent Wagner Group mutiny, the British Ministry of Defence has said.
Russia's General Sergei Surovikin, commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces and deputy commander of Russia's forces in Ukraine, has not been seen in public since the Wagner Group mutinied on 23-24 June, the ministry confirmed.
His deputy defence minister Colonel General Yunus-bek Yevkurov was also “notably absent from a televised appearance by the Ministry of Defence’s leadership on 3 July”, the UK MOD said.
“Reports of Surovikin’s arrest cannot be confirmed, but authorities will likely be suspicious of his long association with Wagner dating back to his service in Syria from 2017...."
This comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Russian forces have left explosives on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
The head of Britain’s armed forces, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said the Russian army has lost half of its combat effectiveness since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar has said the country’s forces were making gains every day in areas outside Bakhmut.
