EU leaders say they are not looking for regime change in Russia

European Union heads of state and government indicated this Thursday that Europe is not seeking regime change in Russia and treated the Wagner Group’s mercenary rebellion as an internal matter for Moscow, although they expressed concern about paramilitaries settling in Belarus. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has continued to show feverish activity with the apparent purpose of assuring citizens that he is in control and that the failed rebellion has not weakened his power one iota.

The truth is, however, that Russia is still dealing with the consequences of the armed rebellion, amid conflicting reports of the alleged arrest of the deputy head of the Russian army in Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin, while Kiev is taking advantage of the chaos in the neighboring country to advance in the east and southeast. Its president, Volodímir Zelensky, celebrated yesterday the announcement that the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, will travel to Kyiv on Saturday for the inauguration of the Spanish presidency of the EU.

the disappearance of the general

Surovikin, one of the few Russian military commanders who was praised by the leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has disappeared from public view since Saturday, raising suspicions of a possible purge in the ranks of the Russian armed forces. His daughter Veronika Surovikina assured the famous Telegram channel Baza yesterday that she is in contact with her father and that “nothing happened”. “All [los mandos] They are at their workplaces,” he said.

The evening before the Russian newspaper The Moscow Times, citing two sources close to the Russian Defense Ministry, said the general had been arrested for alleged links to the insurgency. Russian investigative media Vazhnie Istorii (Important Stories) assured yesterday, citing its own sources in the General Staff of the Russian Army and the security services, that Surovikin was “interrogated” and later released.

The Kremlin, which on Wednesday described reports that the military was aware of the Wagnerite rebellion as “speculation” and did not report them, did not clarify the location of the military high command. The spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, declined to comment on Surovikin’s alleged detention and referred all questions to the defense. The department headed by Sergej Shoigu has not announced yet.

Along with his visits and televised messages, Putin launched an offensive this week to take control of Wagner in the Middle East and Africa, according to The Wall Street Journal. He sent messages to Syria, the Central African Republic, Mali and other countries to assure their authorities that Wagner would maintain his presence, but from now on at the behest of the Kremlin, the newspaper said.