Now that Putin has dealt with Wagner for the meantime, his attention is turning inwards
Following a failed mercenary mutiny aimed at toppling the top brass, some of Russia’s most senior generals have disappeared from public view, amid unconfirmed reports of at least one arrest.
Since Saturday’s aborted mutiny when mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded Gerasimov be handed over, Russia’s top general Valery Gerasimov hasn’t appeared in public or on state television.
He has not been mentioned in a defence ministry press release since June 9 either.
Gerasimov, 67, is the commander of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the holder of one of Russia’s three “nuclear briefcases,” according to some Western military analysts.
General Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian press for his aggressive tactics in the Syrian conflict, is deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine and is also absent.
