An infamous Moscow prison is allegedly holding an important Russian general who has connections to the chairman of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Sergei Surovikin, often known as “General Armageddon,” has gone missing for four days amid suspicions that he was aware of the failed uprising in advance.
According to one scenario, Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister and a devoted follower of Vladimir Putin, was being assassinated by Surovikin, 56, who is second-in-command of the Russian armed forces. Surovikin reportedly sided with Prigozhin in this effort.
If Surovikin is found to have committed treason, he faces being jailed for more than 20 years.
‘Apparently, he [Surovikin] chose the side [of Prigozhin during the rebellion], and they grabbed him by the balls,’ a source told the Moscow Times.
Another source close to the Russian defence ministry confirmed his arrest.
When asked where the general is, he replied: ‘We don’t even comment on this information through internal channels.’
However, military blogger Vladimir Romanov claimed Surovikin is being held in Lefortovo prison, where Putin’s security services interrogate his enemies.
Initial reports also claimed Surovikin’s loyal sidekick General Andrei Yudin had been arrested.
But he denied this, insisting: ‘I am on vacation, at home.’ However, he could not explain Surovikin’s whereabouts.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov tried to dismiss reports Surovikin had advance knowledge of the Wagner revolt as ‘speculation’.
Surovikin’s boss, chief of the armed forces General Valery Gerasimov, has also disappeared from view since the rebellion, but he remains in charge.