A senior Russian general who reportedly had advance knowledge of Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s shocking coup attempt last weekend hasn’t been seen since Saturday, with reports circulating Wednesday that the alleged turncoat had been thrown in a Moscow prison.
Two sources close to Russia’s Ministry of Defense told The Moscow Times, an independent outlet, that Sergei Surovikin had been taken into custody. “In the context of Prigozhin apparently he [Surovikin] chose the side [of Prigozhin during the rebellion] and they grabbed him by the balls,” one source said.
Blogger Vladimir Romanov also claimed on Telegram that Surovikin was rounded up on Sunday by the Deputy Commander of the Joint Group of Troops (Forces) and “taken away” to Lefortovo, a prison in Moscow.
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However, Surovikin’s deputy, Colonel General Andrei Yudin, denied Wednesday that Surovikin had been detained.
The Ministry of Defense has not publicly commented on Surovikin, who hasn’t been seen since he recorded a video on Saturday during the mutiny, according to the Financial Times.
The confusion over his possible arrest comes as the Kremlin is doing a sweep to find out who sympathized with Prigozhin’s mutiny, according to The New York Times, which first reported that Surovikin knew of Prigozhin’s march on Moscow in advance. Even though Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko negotiated Prigozhin into calling off the march on Moscow and exiling to Belarus, the attempted mutiny could be a key indicator that loyalties to Putin have been disintegrating behind the scenes.
Prigozhin and Putin have been infighting for months over Russia’s support to Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenaries, who have been fighting in Ukraine. Wagner fighters have begged Moscow to provide them more ammunition to help the war effort, to no avail. Prigozhin staged his rebellion over the weekend in order to call for the removal of Russia’s defense minister, Sergei Shoigu.
Surovikin, for his part, was previously in charge of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, until Putin removed him from the role early this year.
U.S. officials are still reportedly working to determine if Surovikin helped plan Prigozhin’s plot, or whether he simply knew about it beforehand, according to the Times. There are other Russian generals who supported Prigozhin’s mutiny, U.S. officials told The New York Times.
