Foreign agents report the dismissal of General Surovikin. What does it mean
The former editor-in-chief of the closed radio station “Echo of Moscow,” foreign agent Alexey Venediktov, published a decree according to which General Sergei Surovikin, popular among the troops, is relieved of his post as commander of the Aerospace Forces, remaining at the disposal of the Ministry of Defense.
Surovikin disappeared from the public sphere after the story of the Wagner PMC mutiny. And, although the general was one of the first to issue an appeal to obey the commander-in-chief, Surovikin was credited with the desire to take the post of head of the General Staff in the event of a change in the leadership of the military department. Anonymous telegram channels first spread information about the arrest, and then - as if since the end of June Surovokin had been in a closed apartment, where he was “asked uncomfortable questions.” One way or another, in the footage of President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the headquarters of the Northern Military District group in Rostov, Surovikin was absent from the military leaders.
“The Russian Aerospace Forces actually refused to shoot the Wagner PMC convoy / suppress the rebellion... And Mr. Surovikin’s claims to the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces turned out to be not entirely timely,” writes liberal political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky, who fled Russia.
Another former author of Echo of Moscow, Kirill Shulika, draws attention to the fact that the resignation of “General Armageddon” coincides with the anniversary of the events of 1991, when 24-year-old Surovikin led a column of armored vehicles that opened fire in the air when Yeltsin’s supporters tried to stop armored personnel carriers. Then, by the way, the commander was sent to prison for seven months, but the investigation exonerated Captain Surovikin.
“If Surovikin was dismissed on August 21, then this is very symbolic, maybe they were waiting for it on purpose,” says Shulika.
Political scientist Sergei Markov is surprised why the liberal Venediktov was the first to announce the news of Surovikin’s dismissal.
“Foreign agents” have direct access to the Kremlin... The news about Surovikin, the famous General Armageddon, who is suspected of complicity with Prigozhin, that he was removed from the head of the Aerospace Forces, has only one source - Alexey Venediktov, the famous radio editor-in-chief for decades Echo of Moscow, the main liberal opposition media in Russia. Only he, ahead of all the patriotic journalists, apparently really has entry into the Kremlin,” notes Markov.
“I am sure that one of Venediktov’s informants is Peskov,” writes Alexander Zhuchkovsky, a volunteer helping SVO soldiers.
But Vladimir Romanov, a volunteer helping SVO soldiers, claims that Surovikin was fired much earlier than the liberals announced it.
“Surovikin was removed from his post a week ago,” Romanov wrote.
“Soon everything will be finally resolved. Whether or not he will be appointed to another position is still unclear,” notes publicist Sergei Kolyasnikov.
“There is a version that General Armageddon Surovikin is preparing an offensive plan for the Russian army in deep secret,” the Radonezh radio station puts forward a hypothesis.
Foreign agents report General Surovikin's dismissal. What does this mean?