Today’s news / Russia
General Sergei Surovikin (left) with President Vladimir Putin. Now he is deposed as head of the Air Force. He has been known as a tough dog in numerous conflicts. Including as commander of the Russian forces in Ukraine. Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/Ritzau Scanpix

Russia

  • The head of the Russian Air Force, General Sergei Surovikin, has been sacked, according to the Russian media. “The former head of the Russian Air Force has been replaced,” a source told Russian news agency RIA. It has not been officially confirmed by the military or government. Surovikin, nicknamed “General Ragnarok”, disappeared from public view after the Wagner Group’s failed June uprising against top officials in Moscow. He is a veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. And he is a former commander of the Russian forces in Ukraine. He has had close relations with the mercenaries of the Wagner Group. The new interim leader as head of the Russian Air Force is Colonel General Viktor Afzalov. /ritzau/AFP/
  • Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has died in a plane crash, Russian news agencies wrote on Wednesday evening. Russian aviation authorities said Prigozhin was on the passenger list for a plane that crashed north of Moscow. He is one of a total of ten dead, it says. The Wagner Group wrote on Telegram that Prigozhin had died in the crash.
         The Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia said on Wednesday that the Wagner leader’s name appeared on the passenger list. “An investigation has been launched into tonight’s plane crash in the Tver region. Yevgeny Prigozhin’s first name and surname appeared on the passenger list,” Rosaviatsia said. Russian state media Tass said it was a private plane that crashed on Wednesday with ten people on board. The plane was en route from the capital Moscow to Saint Petersburg when its seven passengers and three crew members crashed. /ritzau/