Vladimir Putin dismissed Normal Sergei Surovikin this week.
Aug. 23 2023, Printed 4:30 p.m. ET
Vladimir Putin dismissed Normal Sergei Surovikin from his place as chief of the Russian Air Power this week, RadarOnline.com has discovered.
The announcement got here following weeks of uncertainty concerning Surovikin’s whereabouts after the overall – dubbed “Normal Armageddon” – was accused of being concerned in Yevgeny Prigozhin’s coup in opposition to Putin.
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Surovikin earned the nickname “Normal Armageddon” for his brutal army marketing campaign in Syria and Ukraine.
Reviews indicated that Surovikin had not been seen publicly since Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenaries marched on Moscow on June 24.
In a video launched in the course of the rebellion, Surovikin pleaded with Prigozhin’s males to retreat.
Following his mysterious disappearance, Russian media shops speculated about Surovikin’s whereabouts – whereas some recommended that he had been detained attributable to his alleged shut ties to Prigozhin.
Russian state information company RIA Novosti reported that Surovikin had been changed as commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces by Colonel Normal Viktor Afzalov.
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Surovikin was accused of conspiring with Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin forward of the coup in opposition to Putin in June.
The Russian day by day newspaper RBC reported that Surovikin was “transferred to a brand new function” and is at the moment “on trip.”
Ksenia Sobchak, the daughter of a Putin-linked politician, additionally took to social media to substantiate Surovikin’s elimination from his publish.
Sobchak claimed that Normal Armageddon was eliminated by Putin on August 18, including his household has had no contact with him since then.
As RadarOnline.com beforehand reported, Surovikin earned the nickname “Normal Armageddon” for his brutal army marketing campaign in Syria.
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The Kremlin claimed Surovikin was “transferred to a brand new function” and is at the moment “on trip.”
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Each Surovikin and Prigozhin had been actively concerned in Syria the place Russian forces have supported President Bashar Assad‘s authorities since 2015.
Surovikin additionally led Russia’s extensively condemned struggle in opposition to Ukraine from October 2022 to January 2023.
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Beneath his command, Russian forces launched common missile barrages on Ukrainian cities – inflicting widespread injury to civilian infrastructure and disrupting important companies corresponding to heating, electrical energy, and water provides.
The Wagner coup on June 24 posed a major problem to Putin’s 23-year rule, and rumors circulated that Surovikin had prior information of the occasion.
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Surovikin’s dismissal got here the identical day Prigozhin was reported lifeless after a non-public jet he was flying on crashed in Russia on Wednesday.
He was changed as commander in Russia’s struggle in Ukraine by Chief of Normal Employees Valery Gerasimov following Russia’s withdrawal from the town of Kherson in November. Nonetheless, Surovikin continued to serve beneath Gerasimov as a deputy commander.
Prigozhin, whereas criticizing Russia’s army management earlier this summer time, praised Surovikin and even recommended that he must be appointed because the Chief of the Normal Employees to exchange Gerasimov.
As RadarOnline.com reported, the information of Surovikin’s dismissal got here the identical day Prigozhin was reported lifeless after a non-public jet he was flying on crashed in Russia.
The Russian Civil Aviation Authority reported that Prigozhin was one among ten folks named on the passenger checklist of a jet that crashed simply exterior Moscow on Wednesday.
Prigozhin was one among seven passengers and three crew members pronounced lifeless after the Embraer plane crashed within the Tver area of Russia. The jet was reportedly en path to St. Petersburg from Moscow when it went down.