The Commander Of The Retreat Of Russian Troops From Kherson Was Found In Algeria
The general disappeared from public view after the Prigozhin mutiny.
General Sergey Surovikin - the former commander of the Russian troops in Ukraine, who led the retreat from Kherson, and ex-head of the Russian Air Force - after almost two years of absence from the public eye was spotted at a wreath-laying ceremony in Algeria to mark Victory Day. Photos from the event were published in the Telegram channel of the Russian embassy in the African country, The Moscow Times reports.
The photos, taken at Delhi's Ibrahim military cemetery, show Surovikin at the head of a column of diplomatic mission staff. He steps next to Russia's military attaché Vladimir Tsukanov to the grave of Soviet soldier I. Ostapchenko. In the caption, the general is identified as "head of a group of Russian military specialists in Algeria," without mentioning his name.
Surovikin became head of the Russian grouping in Ukraine in October 2022 - shortly after a series of major defeats that saw the Russian army flee Kharkiv region. After his appointment, he initiated massive strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure that severely damaged virtually all of the country's non-nuclear power plants. In November of the same year, Surovikin officially announced the retreat of Russian troops from Kherson, the only regional center captured by the Russian army during the entire time of the full-scale invasion. In January 2023, Surovikin was replaced by Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov as commander of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine.
After the mutiny organized by Evgeny Prigozhin in June 2023, the general disappeared from public view. The Russian Defense Ministry did not officially announce Surovikin's resignation, but his name was removed from the department's website as early as September.
According to The New York Times, citing U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence, Surovikin knew of Prigozhin's plans in advance. Shortly after the mutiny, The Moscow Times, citing sources close to the Defense Ministry, reported the general's arrest. The Kremlin declined to comment officially at the time.
The Bloomberg news agency later wrote that Surovikin had been questioned by the military prosecutor's office. In September 2023, The New York Times, citing two U.S. officials and a source in the Russian Defense Ministry, reported that the general was released shortly after Prigozhin's death.
Also that month, Kommersant, citing a source in Surovikin's entourage, reported that the general was in Algeria as part of a Defense Ministry delegation and would likely be assigned to a post related to the "eastern direction." In February 2025, Viktor Sobolev, a member of the State Duma Defense Committee, confirmed: Surovikin is in Africa and is serving as a military adviser.