Russia's top general Valery Gerasimov makes first appearance since Wagner mutiny (WATCH)
In a video made public on Monday, Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff of Russia, was seen giving orders to subordinates to attack Ukrainian missile positions. This was his first public outing since an aborted Wagner mercenary uprising on June 24.
FollowRussia's Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, made his first public appearance since the failed June 24 mercenary mutiny in a video released on Monday. The video showed Gerasimov ordering subordinates to destroy Ukrainian missile sites. Seated in a military command room on a white leather chair, he chaired a meeting with top generals, some joining via video call. Gerasimov, aged 67, gave orders to Russia's powerful military intelligence service (GRU) and discussed how Russia should respond to a thwarted Ukrainian missile attack on Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014, as well as on the Rostov and Kaluga regions.
According to the defense ministry, the footage captured Gerasimov during a meeting on Sunday. He was described as the Chief of the General Staff of Russia's armed forces and the commander of Moscow's forces in Ukraine, the positions he held before the mutiny.
The video reveals that Russian President Vladimir Putin has retained his two most influential military figures, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gerasimov, despite demands from mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to dismiss them.
Prigozhin's mutiny on June 24 aimed to settle scores with Shoigu and Gerasimov, accusing them of being incompetent traitors who involved the Kremlin in a failing war that exposed corruption and decay within Russia's military.
In the video, Gerasimov is seen requesting and listening to a report by Viktor Afzalov, deputy to General Sergei Surovikin in the aerospace forces.Â
Also read:Â Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is in Russia, says Belarus ruler Alexander Lukashenko
Surovikin, who was repeatedly praised by Prigozhin before the rebellion, has not been seen in public since then, and his whereabouts remain unknown. Surovikin, also known as "General Armageddon" by the Russian media due to his alleged ruthlessness, is formally the commander-in-chief of the aerospace forces.Â
Gerasimov acknowledged the successful performance of the aerospace forces in the video, and he tasked them, along with GRU military intelligence, to identify the storage sites and launch positions of enemy missiles and other strike weapons for the purpose of planning a preemptive strike.
"We note that the aerospace forces have coped with the task," Gerasimov was shown as saying.
