Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow ‘arrests General Armageddon’ over Wagner rebellion

Russian General Sergei Surovikin has been reportedly arrested for allegedly having knowledge about Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted coup over the weekend. The defence ministry is yet to officially comment on the alleged arrest of “General Armageddon”, who has not been seen in public since last Saturday, when the Wagner chief launched an armed rebellion against Vladimir Putin. “Apparently, he [Surovikin] chose Prigozhin’s side during the uprising” and they have gotten ahold of him, a source was quoted by Moscow Times as saying. Meanwhile, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said he persuaded Mr Putin not to “wipe out” Wagner mercenary chief, in response to what the Kremlin cast as a mutiny. While describing his Saturday conversation with Mr Putin, the Belarusian president used the Russian criminal slang phrase for killing someone, equivalent to the English phrase to “wipe out”. “I also understood: a brutal decision had been made (and it was the undertone of Putin‘s address) to wipe out” the mutineers, he said, according to Belarusian state media. It comes as twin girls and a child are among 12 people killed in a Russian strike on a restaurant in the city of Kramatorsk using a supersonic Iskander missile, authorities in Ukraine have said. Read More All we know about Kramatorsk pizza restaurant missile strike that killed twin sisters Twin sisters, aged 14, among at least 11 dead in Russian missile strike on pizza restaurant in Ukraine Joe Biden says Putin is ‘clearly losing the war in Iraq’