General Sergei Surovikin, one of the most prominent leaders of the Russian attack on Ukraine, who was relieved of his duties due to his connections to the Wagner Group, reappeared during an official visit to Algeria, after months of absence.
In photos published by the Ibn Badis Mosque in Oran (western Algeria) on Tuesday, and re-published by the Russian media today (Friday), Surovikin could be seen in a light brown uniform without any military insignia, and next to him were Russian officers in military uniform with the imam of the mosque, Sheikh Abu Abdullah Zabbar.
General Surovikin in Algeria (X)
The photos were accompanied by a caption: “A high-level Russian delegation visited the Main Mosque of Qutb Abdelhamid Ben Badis, and they were received by the Director of Religious Affairs and Endowments and the Imam of the Main Mosque.”
The visit and its purpose were not officially announced, and Moscow did not talk about it at all.
Speculation has increased about the fate of Sergei Surovikin since his disappearance after the Wagner Group’s armed rebellion against the military leadership in Moscow in June.
A photo of Surovikin in Algeria was published on “X”
According to Russian media, General Surovikin was relieved of his position as Commander of the Air and Space Forces in August, two months after the rebellion of the Wagner group, with which he had close ties, but which he did not support.
During the Wagner Group’s rebellion, which lasted 24 hours and shook Russian authority, Surovikin called on the rebels to “stop” and return to their barracks “before it is too late.” However, the general was considered close to the Wagner commander, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash in August.
Surovikin is considered one of the main military leaders in the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. He also assumed missions in many of the wars that Moscow fought, starting with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the second war in Chechnya, through to the military intervention in Syria in 2015.
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2023-09-16 13:36:23