Viktor Afzalov appointed acting head of Russian Aerospace Forces, in place of still missing ‘General Armageddon’ Surovikin
An informed source has confirmed to the Russian state media RIA Novosti that General of the Army Sergey Surovikin has been removed from his post as commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
The same speaker named Colonel General Viktor Afzalov as the new acting head of the Aerospace Forces.
Afzalov has been the head of the Main Staff of the Aerospace Forces since August 2018. He served as a temporary acting head of this branch of the Russian military while Surovikin was in charge of the Russian grouping invading Ukraine.
On August 22, the Russian journalist Alexey Venediktov (formerly editor-in-chief of the Echo of Moscow radio station) reported that Surovikin had been fired by the Russian president’s order.
RBC’s sources claim that Surovikin, who headed the Aerospace Forces since October 2017, is simply taking a “brief vacation” before “moving to a different job.”
Surovikin vanished from view shortly after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny exposed problems of loyalty in the Russian military. Although persistent rumors of Surovikin’s arrest have not been officially confirmed, he hasn’t reappeared in public since.
