Top Russian general was sympathetic to Wagner revolt: U.S. officials – National | 24CA News
General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s army operations in Ukraine, was sympathetic to mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s weekend riot, U.S. officers stated on Wednesday, although it was unclear if he actively supported it.
Prigozhin startled the world by main an armed revolt on Saturday that introduced his Wagner Group fighters from the Ukrainian border to inside 200 kilometers (125 miles) of Moscow earlier than he abruptly referred to as off the rebellion.
Three officers, talking on the situation of anonymity, stated that Surovikin had been in assist of Prigozhin however Western intelligence didn’t know with certainty if he had helped the riot in any manner.
As the riot started, Surovikin publicly urged fighters of the Wagner non-public militia to surrender their opposition to the army management and return to their bases.
“I urge you to stop,” Surovikin had stated in a video posted on Telegram messaging app, his proper hand resting on a rifle.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Surovikin had advance data that Prigozhin was planning a riot.
The Kremlin, requested on Wednesday concerning the report, stated there could be “a lot of speculation” within the aftermath of the occasions.
The Russian-language model of the Moscow Times and a army blogger reported Surovikin’s arrest, whereas another army correspondents who command giant followings in Russia stated he and different senior officers have been being questioned about their doable function within the mutiny. Reuters couldn’t decide whether or not Surovikin had been arrested.
Rybar, an influential channel on the Telegram messaging utility run by a former Russian defence ministry press officer, stated a purge was underway.
He stated the authorities have been making an attempt to weed out army personnel deemed to have proven “a lack of decisiveness” in placing down the mutiny amid some stories that components of the armed forces seem to have finished little to cease Wagner fighters within the preliminary stage of the riot.
“The armed insurgency by the Wagner private military company has become a pretext for a massive purge in the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces,” stated Rybar.
Surovikin, nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian media for his reputed ruthlessness, is a veteran of wars in Chechnya and Syria who has been adorned by President Vladimir Putin.
In October, Surovikin was put accountable for the army marketing campaign in Ukraine however was moved right into a deputy function earlier this yr after Russia’s restricted success within the invasion.
Prigozhin, a one-time Putin ally, in latest months has carried out an more and more bitter feud with Moscow, together with publicly saying his troops weren’t being supplied sufficient weapons by the Russian ministry of protection.
U.S. officers and Western officers stated Prigozhin had been stockpiling weaponry forward of the mutiny try. The U.S. officers prompt he will need to have believed he had sufficient firepower and sympathy throughout the Russian army to hold out his rebellion.
Still, a Western diplomat, talking on situation of anonymity, stated Prigozhin in the end miscalculated by believing that his loyalty to Putin, his usefulness to the Kremlin and his assist amongst Russian army officers could be sufficient to insulate him from penalties.
Putin initially vowed to crush the mutiny, evaluating it to the wartime turmoil that ushered within the revolutions of 1917 after which a civil battle, however hours later a deal was clinched to permit Prigozhin and a few of his fighters to go to Belarus.
–Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali; Additional reporting Joel Schectman and Andrew Osborn; Editing by Don Durfee, Grant McCool, Mike Collett-White and Lisa Shumaker
