From Wagner Mutiny to Africa: General Surovikin’s Quiet Return to Public View

A new photo of Hero of Russia, Army General Sergey Surovikin, has appeared online. He was spotted in Africa among those honoring fallen Algerians from World War II.

In the photo, Surovikin is seen as part of a delegation approaching a memorial to lay flowers. The event, at which the general was noticed, was held in connection with Victory Day.

As it appears from the picture, Surovikin has lost weight.

Surovikin Possibly Serving as Military Adviser in Africa

Member of the State Duma Defense Committee, Lieutenant General Viktor Sobolev, previously said that Surovikin could be serving in Africa.

"As far as I know, he is somewhere in Africa. Possibly working as a military adviser. I don't know exactly where, haven't looked into it, but he is abroad,” Sobolev said.

Chairman of the Duma Defense Committee, Andrei Kartapolov, also confirmed that Surovikin was currently outside Russia, fulfilling important duties. He did not specify what those duties were.

Sergey Surovikin, the former commander of the joint group of Russian forces in the zone of the special military operation disappeared from public view after June 24, 2023, when a video appeared showing him urging the mutinous PMC Wagner fighters to stand down. In September 2024, he was seen in Algeria as part of a Russian Defense Ministry delegation.

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Sergey Vladimirovich Surovikin (Russian: Сергей Владимирович Суровикин; born 11 October 1966) is a Russian army general who serves as head of the Coordinating Committee for Air Defence under the Council of Defence Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) since September 2023. From 2017 to August 2023, Surovikin was the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces from 2017 until he was reportedly sacked by Vladimir Putin for an alleged involvement with the Wagner Group rebellion. A veteran of the Soviet–Afghan War, Tajikistani Civil War, Second Chechen War, and the Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war, he was from October 2022 to January 2023 the commander of all Russian forces in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and deputy commander from January 2023 to August 2023.