Sergey Surovikin

Sergey Vladimirovich Surovikin (Russian: Сергей Владимирович Суровикин; born 11 October 1966) is a Russian army general who has served 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.

During the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, Surovikin commanded a unit that killed three anti-coup demonstrators, for which he was detained for several months but never convicted. He played an important role in the creation of the Main Directorate of the Military Police, a new organisation within the Russian army. Surovikin commanded the Eastern Military District between 2013 and 2017, and in 2017 commanded the Russian group of forces in Syria. He is accredited with turning the tide of the war in Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's favour, and is also alleged to have been responsible for strikes on civilian targets during the Russian intervention.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Surovikin was initially the commander of the Southern Grouping of Forces of the Russian Armed Forces. On 8 October 2022, he became the commander of all Russian forces invading Ukraine, but was demoted to deputy commander and replaced by Valery Gerasimov in January 2023. In late June 2023, rumors about his arrest emerged, according to unconfirmed reports following alleged involvement with the Wagner Group rebellion. Surovikin's daughter claimed to be in contact with her father and insisted that he had not been detained.

On 10 September 2023, Surovikin was elected as head of the Coordinating Committee for Air Defence under the Council of Defence Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). His official visit to Algeria soon after dispelled all rumors about his whereabouts.