Whereabouts of General Surovikin Russian Duma member opens up

A Russian member of parliament has confirmed that missing General Sergey Surovikin has been suspended from his post in the "special military operation" in Ukraine.

As reported by News.Ru, referring to Victor Sobolev, a Member of the Russian State Duma, added, that he "could be useful in the army" at a later point but pointed out, that this decision would be up to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin.

The Russian Readovka news outlet has earlier reported, that undisclosed sources pointed to Surovikin being in the southern city of Rostov "taking a break". This was also stated by the Head of the Defense Committee of the State Duma, Valery Kartapolov.

Caliber.Az recalls, that Surovikin (often nicknamed the "Syrian butcher" or "General-Armageddon" due to his violent approach in previous operations) has been the commander of all Russian forces taking part in the military action in Ukraine until January 2023. His whereabouts are unknown at the moment as he disappeared around the tumultuous time when Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the private military company "Wagner", who play a key role in the war in Ukraine, announced a "march of justice" onto Moscow. Surovikin then, on June 24, appeared in a broadcast, calling on the mercenaries to stop the riot.

Many media outlets have speculated, that the general has been detained for supporting Prigozhin and that he was kept in Moscow's detention center "Lefortovo".

Later, a number of Western media reported that Surovikin was being interrogated in connection with the rebellion, although he was not charged. In addition to Surovikin, several high-ranking military personnel were allegedly detained by the country’s security forces after the turmoil.