Russian general close to the Wagner group reappears during visit to Algeria

En images published on Tuesday on the official account on the social network Facebook of the great mosque in Oran, released today by the Russian media, Sourovikin appears in beige civilian clothes, alongside Russian officers in military uniform and the imam of this mosque, Abou Abdallah Zebar.

“A high-level Russian delegation visited the Abdelhamid Ben Badis Grand Mosque and was received by the director of religious affairs and the Imam of the Grand Mosque,” this entity highlighted in a note accompanied by photos.

The purpose of Sourovikin’s visit to Algeria was not specified and Moscow did not release any statement on this matter.

This Monday, the Eurasia Daily news agency reported that Serguei Surovikin had been appointed president of a military coordination commission of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Speculation about the fate of Sergei Surovikin has increased since his disappearance from public space following the Wagner group’s failed rebellion in June.

According to several Russian media outlets, this general was dismissed as commander-in-chief of the aerospace forces in August, two months after the Wagner mutiny, which he was considered close to, but did not support.

During the Wagner group’s 24-hour uprising that shook Russian power, Surovikin called on the mutineers to stop and return to their barracks “before it is too late.”

Even so, the general was considered close to his leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash in August.

On August 23, the day Prigozhin’s private plane crashed, it was revealed that Surovikin had been replaced as head of the Aerospace Forces by General Victor Afzalov.

The Kremlin (Russian Presidency) never confirmed the general’s arrest due to his links to the then head of the Wagner group.

Surovikin was one of the main commanders of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine.

A veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan and the second Chechen war in the 2000s, Surovikin also participated in the brutal Russian campaign in Syria in 2015.

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