Sacked Russian general Sergei Surovikin appeared in a photograph on Monday for the first time since he went missing more than two months ago following the brief Wagner Group mutiny.
“General Sergei Surovikin is out. Alive, healthy, at home, with his family, in Moscow,” Russian media personality Ksenia Sobchak wrote as she shared a photo allegedly of the once-powerful military leader widely known as “General Armageddon.”
“Photo taken today,” Sobchak wrote in the caption of the image, which showed a man in sunglasses and a hat walking with a woman who appeared to be Surovikin’s wife, Anna.
Surovikin, who once led the Russian army in its war against Ukraine, had disappeared shortly after it was widely rumored that he had inside knowledge of mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s brief June rebellion.
He was then sacked from his post late last month, hours before Prigozhin and his top lieutenant were killed in a plane explosion.
The recently posted photo showed a man wearing sunglasses and a cap walking alongside a woman who looked like Surovikin’s wife, Anna. Via REUTERS
The authenticity of the photograph could not immediately be verified. However, other reports also suggested that it was proof that nothing untoward had happened to the fallen leader.
“General Surovikin is at home with his family. He is on leave and at the disposal of the Ministry of Defense,” prominent Russian independent journalist Alexei Venediktov wrote on his channel, without visual evidence.
A new photo appears to show Russian General Sergei Surovikin, who has not been seen in public since a brief mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group in June.AP
Surovikin had briefly led the Russian invasion of Ukraine and was known as “General Armageddon” for his ruthless military tactics in Syria.
He had posted a hostage-style video urging Wagner fighters to lay down their arms as they marched on Moscow to topple other high-ranking generals, but had not been seen since.
Surovikin was fired amid an apparent effort by the Kremlin to rid the Russian military leadership of anyone who was too closely aligned with Prigozhin, who had praised him as “a man who is not afraid of responsibility.”
After the riot, his daughter told reporters that her father had not been arrested and said “nothing had happened to him.”
Several weeks later, a senior lawmaker said the general was “resting” amid reports that he was “in one of the Caucasus resorts.”
with postal wires
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Source: vtt.edu.vn