Russia removes 'General Armageddon' as air force chief after mutiny-related disappearance
Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed "General Armageddon", as head of the air force after he vanished from public view during a Wagner mercenary mutiny against the top army brass, two Russian news outlets reported on Wednesday.
A recipient of Russia's top military award, Surovikin is the most senior Russian military figure to lose his job over the June 23-34 mutiny, which President Vladimir Putin said could have tipped Russia into civil war.
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who spearheaded the revolt, remains free and on Monday posted a video address which he suggested was shot in Africa. The two men Prigozhin had wanted to topple — Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of general staff — remain in their posts.
Once commander of Russia's overall war effort in Ukraine when he was lauded by Russian and Western military experts as one of its most effective operators, Surovikin has not yet been publicly fired.
However, Russian state news agency RIA cited an unnamed but «informed» source as saying: «Ex-chief of the Russian Air and Space Forces Sergei Surovikin has now been relieved of his post, while Colonel-General Viktor Afzalov, head of the main staff of the Air Force, is temporarily acting as commander-in-chief of the Air Force».
Who is Russia's 'General Armageddon' Sergei Surovikin, missing since mutiny?
The RBC news outlet — citing two unnamed sources familiar with the situation — also reported that Surovikin had been removed from his post.
It cited them as saying he was being reassigned to a different job, was currently on leave, and had also lost his role as deputy commander of Russia's forces in Ukraine.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports and there was no immediate
