General ‘Armageddon’ ordered to help Wagner take Bakhmut

THE Russian general Sergey Surovikin, known as “General Armageddon”, has been ordered to work with the Wagner mercenary group in a final assault to take the city of Bakhmut.

In what appears to be a major climbdown by the Russian ministry of defence, it also promised to give Wagner more ammunition after Yevgeny Prigozhin, its chief, threatened to withdraw from the siege.

“We have been given Surovikin as the man who will make decisions regarding how Wagner Group’s military operations co-ordinate with the ministry of defence,” said Prigozhin. “This is the only person wearing a star in the army who knows how to fight,” he added, referring to the general’s rank.

Prigozhin has complained for months that Sergei Shoigu, the Russian minister of defence, and General Valery Gerasimov, chief of general staff, have deliberately starved Wagner of artillery shells to undermine its advance in Bakhmut. On Friday, Prigozhin said he would withdraw unless they delivered more.

“They have promised us ammunition and weapons as much as we need to push on,” Prigozhin said yesterday.

Gen Surovikin was the Russian commander in Ukraine between October and January. Surovikin earned his nickname General Armageddon, and a reputation for cruelty, in 2004 after a junior officer under his command killed himself. This reputation was reinforced in 2017 when he commanded Russian forces in Syria which bombed civilian areas.

Analysts said that Gen Surovikin, who has been serving as a deputy commander to Russian forces in Ukraine since January, would give Wagner more clout but that the relationship could also prove to be a difficult one.

“Being the ministry of defence liaison to Wagner is a nightmare job, given how much the leadership of both camps dislike each other,” said Dara Massicot, a senior policy researcher at Rand Corporation, a US defence think tank.