Russia dismisses General Surovikin who fell into disgrace after the rebellion of the Wagner mercenaries

By Euronews in Spanish with EFE

Published 8/23/2023 – 2:28 PM

General Surovikin, head of the Russian Aerospace Forces since 2017, has been fired and replaced by General Afzalov.

Russia confirms the dismissal of General Surovikin on the day that he already has a replacement for the position that he has held since 2017 as head of the Aerospace Forces.

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General Afzalov will be his replacement. Surovikin is known for his close ties with Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group and fell out of favor after the failed armed rebellion led by Russian mercenaries at the end of June.

Also known as “General Armageddon” has since disappeared from the public eye. According to a source from the Russian daily RBC, Surovikin is in the middle of “a short vacation”.

The Kremlin never confirmed the general’s arrest for supporting the mutiny, which was also refuted by his own daughter.

Subsequently, Wagner’s mercenaries were sent to their new base, Belarus, from where they have resumed their operations in Africa, Prigozhin confirmed the day before in his first video since the rebellion.

Surovikin led, with the exception of a few months, the Russian military contingent in Syria between 2017 and 2019, for which Russian President Vladimir Putin personally awarded him the Hero of Russia award.

He is known as “General Armageddon” for the brutality of his operations against cities like Aleppo controlled by the opposition to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

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