The 56-year-old officer, nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian media because of his reputation for ruthlessness, has not been seen publicly since early Saturday.
Fighters from Mr. Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group were on the ground in Syria at the time, and reports indicate that both Wagner and General Surovikin used the civil war for financial gain.
Besides leading Russian forces in Syria, General Surovikin was in Chechnya in the early 2000s, according to state news media and his biography on the Russian Defense Ministry’s website.
Human Rights Watch said in 2020 that he was among military leaders who might bear “command responsibility” for human rights violations in Syria.
He was placed on a European Union sanctions list on Feb. 23, 2022, a day before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Persons:
Sergei Surovikin, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Surovikin, Bashar al, Assad, Prigozhin’s Wagner, Wagner, General Surovikin, General Surovikin’s, Aleksei Navalny, Russia’s, Valery Gerasimov, Prigozhin’s, ” Samuel Ramani, “, ”, Ramani, Mikhail Gorbachev
Organizations:
New York Times, Fighters, Islamic State militants, Russian Army, Russian Defense Ministry, Royal United Services Institute, Russian Defense, Human Rights Watch, Jamestown Foundation, Union
Locations:
Ukraine, Russian, Syria, Russia, Ukrainian, Kherson, British, Rostov, Chechnya, Washington