‘Arrested’ Putin basic near Wagner boss not seen in public for 11 days, says UK
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senior Russian basic with hyperlinks to the Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has not been seen in public for 11 days amid studies he has been arrested, British defence chiefs stated on Wednesday.
They careworn that regardless of his “brutal reputation,” General Sergei Surovikin is “one of the more respected senior officers” in Vladimir Putin’s military.
While they may not verify that he had been detained, they emphasised that if he had it could be a “divisive” transfer throughout the Russian military.
In its newest intelligence replace, the Ministry of Defence in London careworn: “General Sergei Surovikin, Commander-in-Chief Russian Aerospace Forces and deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, has not been seen in public since the 23-24 June 2023 Wagner Group mutiny.
“Meanwhile, Deputy Defence Minister Colonel General Yunus-bek Yevkurov was notably absent from a televised appearance by the Ministry of Defence’s leadership on 03 July 2023.
“Reports of Surovikin’s arrest cannot be confirmed, but authorities will likely be suspicious of his long association with Wagner dating back to his service in Syria from 2017.
“Similarly, Yevkurov was filmed talking to Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin during the group’s uncontested take-over of Rostov-on-Don.”
The briefing defined additional: “Although largely known in the West by his brutal reputation, Surovikin is one of the more respected senior officers within the Russian military; any official sanction against him is likely to be divisive.
“The suspicion that has potentially fallen on senior serving officers highlights how Prigozhin’s abortive insurrection has worsened existing fault lines within Russia’s national security community.”
Britain, the US and Ukraine are preventing an data warfare in opposition to Russia so their briefings have to be handled with warning, and will goal to sow division inside Russian army ranks.
However, they’re much more plausible than the propaganda issued by the Kremlin.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky issued a chilling warning that Putin could also be planning to explode Europe’s greatest nuclear energy plant which Russian troops captured earlier within the warfare.
“Now we have information from our intelligence that the Russian military has placed objects resembling explosives on the roof of several power units of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” he messaged.
“Perhaps to simulate an attack on the plant. Perhaps they have some other scenario.”
He additionally careworn that Putin could also be inspired to unleash such an Armageddon assault on a nuclear plant after his forces allegedly blew up a large Soviet-era dam in Ukraine.
“Unfortunately, there was no timely and large-scale response to the terrorist attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant,” he emphasised.
“And this may incite the Kremlin to commit new evil. It is the responsibility of everyone in the world to stop it, no one can stand aside, as radiation affects everyone.”
Ukrainian forces have been progressively recapturing territory in japanese Ukraine, with extra preventing across the city of Bakhmut over who has the momentum there.
Overall, Kyiv’s counter-offensive has been slower than anticipated by many army consultants.
But the Washington-based assume tank, The Institute for The Study of War, careworn: “Ukrainian forces appear to be focusing on creating an asymmetrical attrition gradient that conserves Ukrainian manpower at the cost of a slower rate of territorial gains, while gradually wearing down Russian manpower and equipment.
“The current pace of Ukrainian operations is not indicative of a stalemate or evidence that Ukraine cannot retake large areas.”
Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod areas got here below fireplace from Ukrainian forces throughout the border within the early hours of Wednesday, the areas’ governors stated, reporting that at the least one individual was wounded.