A war has broken out between Vladimir Putin‘s Federal Security Service (FSB) and Russia’s Defence Ministry after the Wagner group’s mutiny, Kyiv has said.
Andrii Chernyak, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, said mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin‘s short-lived revolt over the weekend revealed the weaknesses of the Russian president.
This, he said, has sparked an ‘open war’ between the so-called ‘towers’ of the Kremlin – headed by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov – and that ‘liquidation’ of each other’s officials was likely.
The Defence Ministry and the FSB headquarters are located just 3 miles away from each other in Moscow’s city centre. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s intelligence directorate, added that Prigozhin is also in the FSB’s crosshairs.
‘We are aware that the FSB was charged with a task to assassinate him. Will they be successful in doing that? We’ll see with time.’
It appears there has already been one high-profile casualty of the failed rebellion in the form of Russia’s ‘General Armageddon’ Sergei Surovikin, who is believed to have been detained days after mercenaries staged their revolt.
He has not been heard from since Saturday when he appeared in a video calling for an end to the mutiny.
It is thought that the deputy commander of the Russian forces fighting in Ukraine is being held in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo prison after US officials claimed he had supported Prigozhin’s march on the capital, and is being interrogated.
Reports that Surovikin had ties to Wagner appeared to be confirmed overnight when a Russian investigative group Dossier Centre claimed it had found documents showing that he was a secret VIP member of the Wagner group.
Alexei Venediktov, former head of the Ekho Moskvy, a prominent independent radio station that was shut down by authorities after Moscow invaded Ukraine, said Surovikin and his close lieutenants have not been in contact with their families for three days, but stopped short of saying that he was detained.
Another prominent military messaging channel, Rybar, which is run by a former defence ministry press officer, reported a purge in the ranks was underway as authorities looked into allegations that some could have sided with Prigozhin.
Surovikin has been linked to Prigozhin since both were active in Syria, where Russia has waged a military action since 2015 to shore up Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and to help him reclaim territory after a devastating civil war.
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that US officials believed that Surovikin had advance knowledge about the mutiny.
Asked about that report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov shrugged it off as part of ‘speculation and gossip’.
On Thursday, Peskov refused to comment on whether Surovikin had been arrested.
Asked by the Associated Press if the president still trusts Surovikin, he replied that Putin works with the defence minister and the chief of the general staff and referred questions about officers to the Defence Ministry.
He also referred all other questions about Surovikin and his status to the ministry.
Surovikin, who was nicknamed ‘General Armageddon’ by Western media for his brutal tactics in Syria and Ukraine, was credited with shoring up Russian defences after Moscow’s retreat from broad areas of Ukrainian territory last autumn amid a swift counter-offensive by Kyiv.
But in January, Putin replaced him with General Valery Gerasimov, putting the general staff chief in charge of the Russian battle in Ukraine. Surovikin was demoted to the position of Gerasimov’s deputy.
Gerasimov’s own fate also is unclear after the abortive mutiny. While Shoigu showed up at several events attended by Putin, Gerasimov was absent.
