Wagner-adjacent general Surovikin under arrest by FSB – report
General Sergei Surovikin,
the deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, is under arrest on suspicion
of involvement with the June 24 Wagner mutiny, Russian newspaper Verstka
reported on July 12, citing sources in Russian law enforcement.
One source told the publication that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained Surovikin on suspicion of supporting the mutineers, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, but no formal charges have yet been leveled against him.
Another informant told Verstka that Surovikin has been held in isolation for over two weeks, without any contact with his family.
Human rights lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov explained that Russian security forces can use numerous strategies to keep a suspect in detention without formally charging them.
Days following the short-lived Prigozhin mutiny, The New York Times reported that Surovikin may have been aware of Wagner’s plans and could have even supported the mutineers. The Moscow Times confirmed Surovikin's arrest on June 28.
On June 29, the Financial Times corroborated the report, saying that Surovikin has been detained and questioned by the FSB.
On July 12, UK Defense Intelligence highlighted additional evidence suggesting Surovikin's isolation, specifically his absence from a meeting with Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, and his deputy, Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, General Viktor Afzalov.
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