Two top Russian military commanders go missing – including one allegedly arrested after coup attempt by Wagner Group was halted.
By World Israel News Staff
Following the abortive coup by mercenaries from the Wagner Group against Russia’s military leadership, two senior Russian military commanders have gone missing, causing concerns about their whereabouts and the fallout of the short-lived rebellion.
One of the commanders is reportedly a general who is said to have been arrested after Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin nixed off the brief coup attempt and relocated his forces to Belarus.
The coup attempt, known as the “march for justice” on Moscow, was the first open challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s leadership.
The other missing figure is Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who has not made any public appearances or appeared on state TV since the coup attempt on Saturday.
Gerasimov was told to surrender by Prigozhin during the coup. Furthermore, Gerasimov has not been mentioned in any defense ministry press releases since June 9, Reuters has reported.
The 67-year-old officers commands Russia’s invasion force in Ukraine and is believed to be one of three Russian commanders entrusted with “nuclear briefcases,” according to some Western military analysts.
Additionally, Deputy Commander Gen. Sergei Surovikin, also known as “General Armageddon,” is reportedly missing, with unconfirmed reports suggesting that he was arrested on Sunday, as claimed by The Moscow Times.
According to a report by The New York Times, Surovikin had prior knowledge of Prigozhin’s plans to rebel, leading U.S. officials to investigate whether Surovikin actively supported Prigozhin. The Kremlin dismissed these reports as speculative gossip.
An influential Telegram channel called “Rybar”, run by a former Russian defense ministry press officer, has suggested that the Russian military is currently undergoing a major purge, removing personnel who failed to take sufficiently strong action to crush the coup.
“The armed insurgency by the Wagner private military company has become a pretext for a massive purge in the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces,” Rybar claimed, according to Reuters.
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