Russia detains 13 officers, including General Surovikin, in connection with Prigozhin's riot – WSJ
Photo: MIL.RU
In connection with the mutiny of the founder of the Wagner Private Military Company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian exceptional service detained at least 13 high-ranking military personnel, including General Serhii Surovikin: 15 officers were suspended or released from their service.
The Wall Street Journal reports this with reference to sources.
As sources told the publication, Surovikin was detained a few hours after the beginning of the rebellion. At this time, he is being held in Moscow. He has not been charged with any crime.
He was not in the detention center. However, according to WSJ sources, he was repeatedly questioned as investigators investigated his role in the riot.
One of the publication's interlocutors claims that Surovikin knew about the plans for the uprising. However, he did not take part in the rebellion.
According to the publication's interlocutors, the general can be released when Putin decides what to do with the consequences of the rebellion.
As the publication emphasizes, at least 13 senior officers were detained for questioning, and some were later released. About 15 officers were suspended or dismissed.
"These detentions are connected to purges of those who, it is believed, can no longer be trusted," said one of the interlocutors.
Surovikin's deputy, Andriy Yudin, and the deputy chief of military intelligence, Volodymyr Alekseev, were also detained but were later released. They are suspended from performing official duties. Their movements are restricted, and they are under surveillance.
According to the WSJ, Alekseev had long-standing ties to Wagner. However, like Surovikin, he publicly called on mercenaries to lay down their arms at the beginning of the rebellion.
Among the other detainees is former colonel-general Mikhail Mizintsev, who previously held the deputy minister of defense position. It should be noted that he joined Wagner PMC at the end of April.
Mizintsev was nicknamed "The Butcher of Mariupol" for leading the Russian assault on the city, which was accompanied by massive bombing of residential areas. This was done to force Mariupol to surrender.
Mizintsev was removed from his position as deputy minister in charge of logistics and joined Wagner a few months before the mutiny.
Neither the Kremlin nor the Russian Ministry of Defense responded to the publication's requests for comment.
For reference:
Verstka reported that the deputy commander of the joint group of Russian troops in Ukraine, the head of the Airborne Space Forces, General Serhiy Surovikin, was detained by Russian counter-intelligence and isolated in connection with the mutiny of Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner PMC.
Bloomberg also wrote that the general was interrogated for several days by military prosecutors about his connections with Prigozhin. The source of the agency claimed that Surovikin is being held "in one place," but he is not in prison.
In addition, British intelligence believes that several Russian generals disappeared from public life after the so-called rebellion of the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The Russian Federation denied information about Surovikin's detention.
At the same time, on July 12, the chairman of the defense committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Andriy Kartapolov, in response to journalists' questions, said that Surovikin is "resting now" and "not available yet."
