Has Putin had Sergei Surovikin locked up?

When Evgeniy Prigozhin started his armed insurrection, it was clear that he had allies within the ranks of the Russian military. His Wagner Group walked unopposed into Rostov, the HQ of the Russian military in the south and they were almost entirely unmolested as they came within 120 miles of Moscow. Vladimir Putin granted him amnesty, in return for retreat and exile, but a hunt seems to be on for those who might have backed him. 

The Moscow Times is reporting the arrest of Sergei Surovikin, a general who until recently led the assault on Ukraine and had been close to Prigozhin. Citing two sources close to the Russian Ministry of Defence, the report says Surovikin ‘chose (Prigozhin’s side in the rebellion) and now he’s been grabbed by the balls’. There was no report on the whereabouts of the general, who is serving as deputy commander of the Russian troops.

Establishing the truth in Putin’s Russia is notoriously difficult: it means swimming in a sea of unconfirmed reports from by-no-means-reliable sources. But the Kremlin is quick to rebut unhelpful rumours, and it’s saying nothing about the fast-spreading story of Surovikin’s arrest. 

Curiously, the report first appeared on the Telegram channel of the hardline military blogger Vladimir Romanov. Yesterday afternoon he wrote that Surovikin had been arrested on Sunday and taken to the notorious Lefortovo prison in Moscow, known for its brutal treatment of inmates and strict isolation regime. Alexei Venediktov, the former editor-in-chief of the staunchly anti-Kremlin radio station Echo of Moscow shut down in the early days of Russia’s war, has added that sources had told him that Surovikin had not been in contact with his family for three days. His security detail wasn’t responding either.

Surovikin had released a film appealing for the Wagner leader to call off his rebellion. Clad in army fatigues, machine gun on his lap, Surovikin asked Prigozhin to ‘obey the will and order of the popularly elected president of the Russian Federation’ before it was too late. Whether he filmed the video willingly or under duress is now being speculated upon: some said that he appeared to be drunk at the time.

But Western intelligence reports are beginning to leak suggesting that Surovikin may have known more about the coup than he let on. The New York Times quotes intelligence sources saying Surovikin was in Prigozhin’s circle of trust: so he knew, even if it’s currently unclear how much active help he provided the Wagner group with. While refusing to shut down rumours over his disappearance, the Kremlin has denied that Surovikin had any advanced knowledge of Prigozhin’s rebellion.

Speaking yesterday before the Moscow Times published their story, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: ‘I think that now there will be a lot of gossip, speculation on this issue [the armed mutiny] and so on. I think this is one of such examples.’ The Russian army and people ‘all stood by the president during the uprising,’ he added.

The Russian army’s response to Wagner’s march on Moscow was undeniably underwhelming: little was done to engage the private military group in active combat and Wagner was able to advance on Moscow fairly uninhibited over the course of nearly a full day. Military bloggers have suggested that the Kremlin is now looking to use the rebellion as an excuse to purge the Russian armed forces of ‘objectionable people’ on a large scale. One said it was being used as a ‘crash test for loyalty’ to Putin’s regime, with anyone deemed ‘indecisive’ in their actions over the rebellion to be culled. If so, then Surovikin is unlikely to be the last victim.